


Absence of Fear

by Just 2 Dream of You (DezzyDoesThings)



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: 5 years after Pacifist run, Bigotry & Prejudice, Brotherly Love, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Romance, F/M, Mentions of genocide, Minor Violence, Monsters in the real human world, My First Undertale Fanfic, POV First Person, POV Third Person, Sad Sans, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-07 23:34:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5474645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DezzyDoesThings/pseuds/Just%202%20Dream%20of%20You
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The human world is a suspicious, paranoid and bigoted place. The monsters realize this as their ending doesn't come as happily as they would have liked. Certain events have turned a small, pun cracking skeleton down and bitter, but all that changes when he meets a young human woman. Can this world accept a human and a monster together? Only time will tell...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Real World

**Author's Note:**

> I am [Just 2 Dream of You on/](https://www.fanfiction.net/~just2dreamofyou) on FFN and [dezzydoesthings/](http://dezzydoesthings.tumblr.com/) on tumblr. Check me out!

Absence of Fear  
  
Chapter One: The Real World

X -x-x-x-x- X

" _No, no, no, that is the most ridiculous statement I've ever heard!"_

" _No, what_ _ **you**_ _need to understand is, this isn't going away!"_

A panel of four people arguing with the host trying to cut in and stop them blared on the television. It was always the same argument. No one seemed to have the answers and in the end, no one really cared. They just wanted the _monsters_ to go away and go back to regular reports of school shootings and terrorism. No one had time to debate whether or not these _things_ could think and feel.

It all started five years ago. Suddenly creatures from under Mt. Ebbot came crawling out and immediately people started to panic. Police and military greeted them after a while, and it wasn't pleasant. Some were taken away to facilities, hidden away from the world. They were studied and interviewed for months, all the while rumors and stories of them getting larger. Eventually they were released back to Mt. Ebbot, but they kept demanding freedom. Unsure of what to do, the human government did what they do best; they went to court.

The trial was before a jury of judges, the trial of the century it had been dubbed, and the creatures had a chance to plead their case. They weren't just _monsters_ , they were sentient beings with hopes and dreams and all they wanted was to be free.

Protesters lined outside the courthouse along with supporters, each with their signs of hatred or kindness. The internet was plagued with videos of these beings, the news talking about it nonstop. It was all _anyone_ could talk about.

" _You expect me to care about some animal that can walk and talk when our babies are dying in the street from gangs and cops?"_ A woman of color shouted into a television camera. _"My babies will go to go to college before some chicken thing will!"_

" _I mean, this is really stupid. We have enough problems with ISIS and Putin trying to blow up the world. I say stick 'em in the military and make them fight so our boys can come home."_ A male stated in a video showing him parked at a gas station.

" _This is wrong and we all know it! This is their home too! We have species going extinct every single day! What more will it take?! This is their home too!"_ A young female began shouting, a crowd behind her joining in. _"This is their home too! This is their home too!"_

The hashtag #theirhometoo began trending all over social media, more and more support building for the monsters.

A gate had been built around an enclosure at the bottom of the mountain, soldiers guarding it. No one was allowed in or out without clearance. However, human visitors were able to see the creatures behind the gates, often waving and shouting. The monsters seemed happy to see humans interested in them. Crowds gathered every day, as if it was a zoo display. Phones were ever present and many photos and vids were posted online.

One of which sent everyone in a further tizzy. There was a child behind the gates. A _human_ child. Law enforcement intervened going inside the enclosure to "rescue" the child. A video put on YouTube showed a S.W.A.T. team demanding the child from a tall monster. More monsters had gathered trying to stop it, the officers shouting for all to hit the ground with hands on their heads. The video went blurry then showed the team tearing the child from what looked like a female monster, her sobbing in a heap as the man took the young human who was screaming and flailing, kicking their legs.

It was revealed the child was Felicia "Frisk" Warner, an orphan who was living in foster care and had been reported missing a few months ago. She had no family that was claiming her and kept calling the female monster she had been torn from, _"Mom."_

Activists and supporters of the creatures exploded on social media. _"Do you know how many babies have no parents and just want to be loved?"_

And protesters. " _It's bad enough we got gays raising kids. Now we got demons wanting to."_

The monsters did not take it lying down. After months of no resistance, they hired a human lawyer supporter and sued the government for the child back.

That trial ended up getting more coverage than the first one, which was still ongoing. People watched in amazement as each monster testified one by one, telling how much they loved Frisk. Last was the little girl herself, breaking down on the stand, sobbing that she just wanted her mommy back. The camera panned to the creatures sitting on the defendant side, all crying and wiping their eyes. The collective sway of guilt affected almost everyone who watched, public support of the monsters going up.

Eventually the court ruled Frisk could live with the monsters, but only with social services checking on her from time to time.

The other trial ended with a sort of immigrant deal. They could integrate into society but certain rules were to be put in place.

" _Are you kidding? We have Syrian refugees getting refused but these_ _ **things**_ _get allowed be part of our society? Send_ _ **them**_ _to Syria!"_

" _What if one with claws and teeth gets on a plane and attacks people?! How is that any different from a terrorist?!"_

" _Oh, really? Then I suppose a woman with a long manicure shouldn't get on a plane either? Or anyone with_ _ **teeth**_ _."_

The argument on the panel continued, to idiotic levels.

" _What if an alien ship landed on Earth and the aliens just_ _ **demanded**_ _to be part of our society? We wouldn't allow that. And yet, we just open our arms to these creatures!"_

" _They are sentient beings, that has been proved!"_

" _I've seen no concrete proof they are on par with us."_

" _With_ _ **us?**_ _Like we're gods or something? Your arrogance never ceases to amaze me."_

" _ **MY**_ _arrogance?"_

I sighed and changed the channel. _"Hello and welcome back to The Situation Room. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Carly, this just keeps being the subject that dominates our airwaves. Should these..._ _ **monsters**_ _be allowed to fully be a part of our world?"_

I imagined Ariel singing on her rock with a snicker.

Wolf paused with a slight chuckle. _"Monsters. Is there any other word we can all them?"_

The female reporter shrugged. " _They call themselves that, Wolf."_ They both chuckled in disbelief. _"I know. I feel like I'm on Sesame Street with Elmo and Oscar."_

I laughed at that. It _did_ kinda feel like it. I turned off the T.V with a heavy sigh, running a hand through my too long bangs. Things weren't dying down in the discussion due to an _incident_ a few years back.

The thing humans had been fearing came true when a vid surfaced of a group of teens playing basketball. What appeared to be a tall skeleton in red approached them, supposedly asking to play. The teens allowed it but the taller monster kept dominating them on the court and eventually, _accidentally,_ knocked down one of the teens. Immediately the human children turned on it, throwing the ball at it, hitting it. It soon turned into punches being thrown, the skeleton refusing to fight back. The vid lasted about a minute like this until all the boys were enveloped in a blue light and knocked back to the other side of the court. The camera shook and a smaller skeleton in blue came onto the screen, blue fire bouncing off its' outstretched hand, the boys being tossed in the air and thrown to the ground. The taller one stopped the smaller one and both monsters ran away.

I recognized them both from the Frisk trial; both of the skeletons had testified. The tall one barely making it through, talking through tears and sniffling (which I wondered how it could do that with no nose), and the smaller one in blue who seemed cool and not as affected but paused a few times to compose himself.

Yes, they were both males, I think. Not _it_...not _things_...men. _People._ With _feelings._ Obviously they cared for each other and the smaller one protecting the taller one showed that.

" _This_ _ **magic**_ _they claim to posses is dangerous! Look what that_ _ **thing**_ _did to those children!"_ Yes, the teens were minors so for all intents and purposes, the _monster_ had attacked defenseless _children_.

" _Oh, please, this is no different than people running around with guns. They have a right to defend themselves!"_

" _ **Humans**_ _have that right. They do not."_

President Obama put an end to all the debate with a speech - well, many speeches on the subject. He made a bill where it would be illegal to hurt the creatures and in turn, them to hurt humans. Both sides would be charged as normal. _"If we are a land of freedom, like we proclaim to be, then we should act like it. We have other countries opening their arms to...uh, these people."_

True. Africa had extended an invitation. South America, Mexico, Ireland, even Iran was interested, yet America was having this many problems deciding what to do. That being said Putin laughed when he was asked and said flippantly, _"If the Americans want them, they can have them. We certainly won't be taking them."_

Obama continued. _"We need to learn from our mistakes of the past. Mistakes and crimes that were committed to my ancestors. Do we really need segregation and bigotry ruling our country again?"_

It was true after all. That was exactly where this was going, and in some places, that is where it was. Certain businesses didn't allow monsters to enter. Certain companies didn't hire them. But slowly, through the years, a tolerance built up. Not a happy one, but not an angry one either. It was just normal now.

Some communities accepted them openly. Not surprisingly, minority groups and the LGBT were most accepting. They knew what it was like to be different and ostracized for it. _"Next they'll be human/monster relationships and_ _ **they'll**_ _want to get married,"_ I remember one disgusting panelist yell. Which started a LGBT backlash on social media. The man never apologized but he changed his job.

There were segregated planes so humans would be more comfortable. Humans still flew the monster planes (of course monsters can't go to flight school), but there would be monster attendants for the monster passengers. Passports were more difficult for monsters to get, but they were allowed to travel to countries that allowed it. Monster ran businesses started popping up, along with products in stores. Monster only schools and clinics. It was disgusting, but progress was always slow and things were changing as best they could.

I looked in my makeup mirror at the bags under my eyes. Damn my Italian heritage, making me age much faster than I am. I'm only twenty seven and I already looked thirty five under the eyes. Of course, most of these dark circles and early wrinkles could be blamed on my career...

Becoming a doctor was never easy for anyone. After getting my bachelor's degree in science, taking chemistry, biology, organic chemistry, physics, and biochemistry, I started medical school.

Medical school lasted four years. The first two were classes like anatomy, physiology, and many others. The second two years were rotations. I went around to all the different areas of medicine and spent about a month in each.

Now I'm a resident. I specialized in general medicine and want to be a general practitioner; a family doctor. Residencies usually last 3-7 years depending on what you want to do, so I'm in for the long haul.

Especially since I've changed my residency from human medicine to _monster_ medicine. There was a shortage in monster doctors due to them not being allowed in human medical schools, and I feel if the world is going to change, I could help it along. Changes were made in small steps and I might as well do it. I had to retake some classes to learn monster anatomy and the more I learned, the more fascinated I became by it.

All monsters were different. Some were flesh and blood and some weren't, like that internet famous robot one, Mettaton, who had gained massive recognition in Japan. But it was explained to me that monsters instead had _souls_ , which controlled their entire being. It seems silly for a woman of science to be taught things like _magic_ and _souls_ but it kinda made sense in a weird way. I'd been taught by a monster teacher and it was just me and four others in the class, which was sad beyond all reason. Even sadder, in the end, I was the only one to graduate the class.

Now here I am, having a residency in a monster clinic. I'm excited to start this new page of my life and hoped it was the right choice. It felt right, but my friends and family ridiculing me and some cutting off contact because of my choice made it more difficult, as if it wasn't hard enough.

And on top of that...the clinic I work at has no humans; I'm the only one. I expected to be singled out, treated badly, but much to my surprise the monsters were more than welcoming. My species had treated them all so terribly but they were nothing but kind and gentle. It made my heart warm that I was trying to help them out with medicine, and with that I _knew_ I'd made the right choice.

The best one was Doctor Alphys, who was my teacher now, showing me all the things I'd need to know. "Miss Moretti? Are you listening?" A pause. "Nicoletta?"

I put down my anatomy book, that I wasn't really wasn't paying attention to, and looked up at the almost triceratops monster in glasses. "Yeah? I'm sorry, Doctor. I got lost in thought."

Alphys giggled and I couldn't help but think it was cute. "I told you call me Alphys. No need to be so f-formal."

I smiled. "Yet, you call me _Miss Moretti_ and _Nicoletta_. I told you, it's Niki."

The monster smiled back. "A-Alright. So...um...your break is over. We have to make rounds."

I sighed and got up from the couch. Thank God the T.V. was off so Alphys couldn't see the awful debates happening on the news, although I'm sure the monsters saw them all the time.

Alphys was slowly becoming a good friend. The dinosaur was a nerd just like me, and I found myself geeking out with her. We'd discussed favorite animes and found we had a few in common. I even told Alphys of some the monster hadn't seen before.

" _ **Yu Yu Hakusho**_ _is my favorite, you should totally watch that."_ I'm always trying to get people to watch my ultimate fave. We also geeked out on popular television shows, the most recent one I got Alphys into was another favorite of mine, _Once Upon a Time_. It had long since been over but the fandom still remained online and of course I have all the DVDs.

" _I so ship Captain Swan!"_ Alphys had giggled.

" _No way, Rumbelle forever!"_ And we laughed together, _laughed_ together as if there was no difference between us. There was no human or monster, just two women fangirling over ships.

Our friendship had blossomed into personal details, such as Alphys having a girlfriend and the two of them wanting to get married, or at least Alphys wanted to but wasn't sure Undyne, her partner, wanted to. _"Why don't_ _ **you**_ _propose to her?"_ I'd asked.

" _W-What? Me? N-No, I couldn't! I just c-couldn't!"_ the poor monster girl stuttered, resulting in a hug and back pat.

It was really sweet how much Alphys gushed about Undyne and I found myself wishing _I had someone to gush about..._

"Niki? I asked you a question..."

I was snapped out of my thoughts again. "Huh?"

"I was asking i-if you'd like to j-join me and my friends for f-food and d-drinks?" Alphys was really too cute.

I smiled and thought about it. We hadn't socialized outside of work the six months I've been working at the clinic and honestly I was delighted at the idea. "I'd love to!" I beamed right at her.

Alphys shared the same expression, then blushed. "R-Really? Y-You mean it? Oh, great! That's...great. Heh...I can't wait to introduce you to all my f-friends."

I smiled and patted my superior on the back. It was funny how _I'm_ the resident and Alphys the doctor, yet sometimes it seemed the other way around.

After work I got ready at home quickly, changing into a tank top, jeans and my favorite hoodie which had cat ears on the hood. Yeah, I'm a big ol' dork.

I drove to where Alphys had said, a place called _Grillby's Lounge_ and walked in, seeing nothing but monsters. I kinda started to feel self conscious but that soon melted away when my friend beckoned me over. I joined Alphys and who I assumed was Undyne at a table.

Undyne was very pretty in a strange way. It was obvious the woman was a fish monster of some kind and I briefly was reminded of The Missing Link from _Monsters VS Aliens_. I giggled at that comparison.

But Undyne had flowing red hair, well defined muscles and not a bad figure either. The fish was dressed in a black tank top and jeans just like me. The only difference in our attire was my cat hoodie. "Nice to meet ya! Alphys keeps going on and on about you..." The monster stopped. "If I was a jealous person I _might_ be suspicious she had a crush on you..."

Alphys turned beet red. "N-NO! Never! I w-would never-!"

"Shush. Calm down, sweetie. I know you wouldn't." And Undyne gave Alphys a small peck on the cheek, making the small monster even redder if possible.

_Good grief, this is adorable._

A loud voice sounded through the joint, making me jump in my seat. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE ARRIVED!"

Undyne groaned into her hands and stood up, only to shout just as loud. "NO ONE CARES, YOU IDIOT! NOW GET OVER HERE!"

I looked over and gasped. It was the tall skeleton in red from the trial and video. I would recognize him anywhere. I hate to admit it, but I watched the trial with heavy interest and that video many times, _too many times_...

Papyrus came over to the table and looked me over. "Hello! And who are you?"

I cleared my throat nervously. "I'm Niki. Nice to meet you." The skeleton eyed the other two monsters questionably.

"She works with me at the clinic," Alphys explained.

"Oh! How wonderful! I'm glad you are comfortable with dining with us, human."

That stung a little but I shrugged it off. "Why wouldn't I be?" That made all monsters at the table smile.

"Where's Sans?" Undyne asked.

Papyrus sighed dramatically. "That lazybones brother of mine is late again! I swear, all he does is sleep."

"Well, ever since... _t-that_...happened...he has b-been a little down...I'm worried, Pap," Alphys' voice trembled.

_Were they talking about the small one in blue?_

"Worried about what?"

I jumped again at the low toned voice behind me, a drastic contrast to the higher pitch of Papyrus. I recognized their voices from the trial, though Papyrus had been crying most of his testimony...

I turned and sure enough, there he was. He was short, maybe five feet, but for my towering frame of four foot eleven, that wasn't so bad. I hate being so short, but my heels give me at least five feet to five foot one.

He was dressed in a white tee shirt, blue hoodie with fur around the collar, black shorts with white stripes down the sides and... _pink_ slippers? I had to hold in a giggle at that. _What on Earth?_

He had a big grin on his skeleton face and that's when I realized these two could made _facial_ _expressions_. How could they do that when they were made of _bone?_ _Or were they?_

His gaze locked onto mine and I gulped as his smile fell away, the points of light in his eye sockets fading. **"Who is** _ **this?**_ **"**

The dark tone he used sent a chill up my spine along with the image of him effortlessly throwing those boys around. _What have I gotten myself into?_

~To Be Continued

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Alphys is a plot device to get OC to meet Sans. Urg. I tried to make this as realistic as possible with how I think our world would react to this without getting too real and ridiculous. I hope I did a good job. Also this will be romance doy and it is M for a reason, folks. All you bonezoners will be happy later. But first lots of story and plot and junk. This is my first try at Undertale and the first real thing I've written in six months so I'm a little rusty. Please go easy on me?
> 
> Nah, let it rip with constructive critisim! Let me have it! -battle box opens and Megalovania plays- I'm ready for ya! -opens items with endless hotcats and nice creams- 
> 
> P.S: I totally added my fandoms I write for in here. YYH and OUAT ftw!


	2. Punny Spaghetti Skeletons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am [Just 2 Dream of You on/](https://www.fanfiction.net/~just2dreamofyou) on FFN and [dezzydoesthings/](http://dezzydoesthings.tumblr.com/) on tumblr. Check me out!

Absence of Fear  
  
Chapter Two: Punny Spaghetti Skeletons

X -x-x-x-x- X

I found myself scooting further into my booth, closer to the wall under his...gaze? I couldn't really tell because it was literally two black holes just boring themselves into me. “Um...hi?”

“Sans, this human works with Alphys at the clinic! Isn't that grand?” Papyrus finally said through the tension.

The lights came back in the shorter skeleton's eyes at the voice of the other, and he tilted his head in what appeared to be amusement towards him. “Oh, really? A _human_ monster doctor?”

“Resident...” I mumbled and his head snapped back to mine. “Nicoletta Moretti,” I blurted quickly and paused. _Why did I just say my whole name?_ “Uh, but you can call me Niki...”

“C'mon, Sans, sit down already,” Undyne offered and the monster shrugged and did, scooting into the booth. The side I was sitting at since the other three had the other side. Yay, me.

I sighed heavily and scooted further, now against the wall completely. Yeah, this wasn't obvious or anything. At least now Alphys was directly in front of me. She gave me a reassuring smile that I returned.

The waitress came up to the booth, grinning wide. She was another blue tinted creature like Undyne, except her face looked really...cat like. She had no fur, just blue skin, and horns where she should have had ears curled around her head, following her long green locks. She was well built, at least a DD and in _very_ revealing clothing. _Geez, lady._ “Hey there, guys...”

“Hey, Celeste,” Sans greeted next to me.

“Whoa, Sansy. Haven't seen you for a while,” she commented flirtatiously, swinging her hips to the side with a hand on one.

He shrugged, playing with his wrapped silverware. “Eh, just been busy.”

She laughed a little. “Yeah, I've never known you to be _busy_ , Sans.” She shook her head and took out a notepad. “Everyone know what they want?”

_Oh, shit_. No I didn't. I hadn't even looked at the menu. Was monster food any different? I heard rumors it could heal injuries and cure things like headaches, but that was ridiculous...right? I quickly skimmed at mine and saw typical restaurant food. Hamburgers, chicken fingers, soups and salads, nothing exciting.

Undyne and Alphys ordered burgers while Papyrus wanted something called a spaghetti bowl. Celeste turned to Sans next. “Yeah, I'll do it a little different tonight, Cel. I just want a plate of onion rings. Oh and, uh-”

“Yeah, yeah. Ketchup on the side,” she giggled as she wrote it down. Then her eyes were on me. “My, my. A human. Can't say I'm shocked since we get curious ones all the time, but I _am_ surprised to see your group with one. Isn't Frisk the only human you guys know?”

_That name._ _ **Frisk**_. The child from the trial. This was getting too real for me.

“She works with me at the clinic,” Alphys explained _again._

The waitress nodded. “Ohh, the one down the street? That's awesome! I don't think I've heard of any human doctors on our side yet!”

I slumped in my seat. “I'm sure I'm not the _only_ one...and I'm a resident.”

“You've said that,” was the flat reply next to me.

You know that feeling when you _know_ someone doesn't like you, yet you just met them and you're like what the hell, dude? Yeah.

Celeste shrugged. “At any case, it's pretty cool. Know what you want, sugar?”

I sucked in my bottom lip, a nervous habit, and closed my menu. “An order of fries, please. Oh, and can I have a bowl of ranch on the side?”

She nodded and finished writing with a dramatic point on the paper. “Okee dokee, I'll be back with those.”

I sipped my water, which apparently Alphys had ordered for me before I got there, and we all sat in uncomfortable silence.

Until, “So, brother. Have any luck getting employed yet?”

It was interesting the difference between the two. Papyrus was tall and imposing, with a higher toned voice, while Sans was short and almost what one would call...ugh - _big boned_ , with a deep baritone for a voice. Their faces?/skulls couldn't look more different and neither looked particularly humanoid, which made sense. They looked more like aliens, to be honest. One thing that stood out to me was Papyrus didn't have lights in his eye sockets and Sans did. _What_ _ **was**_ _that anyway?_

It had been explained to me that monsters were basically pure magic. Which I'm sure isn't what we think of as _magic_ but the word is the only translation that really works. Kind of like how demon gets translated from Japanese culture yet the literal translation is spirit or monster. If this was an anime, no doubt they would be called demons. Yeah, my dorky brain goes all sorts of weird places.

Now from what I understood, their _magic_ was a force that held them together and gave them powers to do things. A soul in their ideology was the culmination of compassion and kindness they had inside them.

That was about when the other students quit the class. My teacher went on to say that humans had souls too - which any Christian would tell you - but in the monster world, human souls were special because they could still exist even without compassion and kindness.

It was like humans were an enigma the monsters couldn't understand. Technically in their world, humans shouldn't exist because they had the capacity for evil, but at the same time, human souls were stronger almost _because_ of that reason. Alphys explained it to me that humans had something monsters didn't. A _determination_ to live that was far stronger.

But what did that mean? Monsters didn't care if they died? Or their need to live just wasn't as strong as ours? So many questions were not answered by my teacher or Alphys and I _so_ wanted to learn more.

Be that as it may, I wasn't going to get any answers here in this awkward situation.

“Nah, for some reason people find me off putting. _Tibia_ honest, I can't imagine why.”

_Wait...did he just...make a **bone** pun? I think he did._ It was almost funny, but no one was amused. In fact, they all looked upset.

I turned right to him as his brother held his head and groaned. “Honestly, Sans. That is your oldest one yet.”

Undyne crossed her arms. “Yeah, dude. Get new jokes.”

Sans shrugged nonchalant. “Everyone runs out of material eventually.” He stirred his drink with a straw (which I wondered how he could use with no lips). “I can't help it if I'm _bone dry_.”

And everyone groaned. “Sans, knock it off, no one is laughing.”

Oh, except me. 'Cause I totally giggled just then making Undyne and Papyrus gape at me while Alphys just pretended she wasn't in the universe or something. And then I felt Sans'...eyeballs/lights? on me.

“Oh, uh...sorry...” I mumbled and just looked at this really interesting crack in the table. It was kinda shaped like a lightening bolt. How did a crack like that happen? It zig zagged and everything... Oh, hey! The food's here!

I sighed in relief. “Wow, you sure have fast service,” I complimented and Celeste grinned at me.

“Well, of course! We ain't slow pokes like you humans!” She laid down our plates and the monsters started digging in.

Now Undyne and Alphys were biting and chewing their food, but the skeletons...

How the _hell_ were they eating? I watched Papyrus dig into what looked like a spaghetti casserole and he was forking it into his mouth and swallowing whole. There was no chewing. I could guess that having no skin if he did chew, it would go flying all over the table, but as he swallowed my eyes immediately peered down to his torso and where his stomach would be, seeing nothing happened. The food disappeared just as he _swallowed._ Just gone. Poof, just like that. Like...

_Don't say magic._

My peripheral vision saw Sans doing the same actions. Picking up an onion ring, taking a bite, no chewing, then swallowing. He'd hardly opened his mouth while talking, yet his voice was clear like someone _not_ clenching their teeth together. He was barely opening his mouth to take a bite at all, and my mind began to wonder how it all worked. How did their bones even stay _together_ without muscle and ligaments? I know the answer to everything monster seemed to be _magic_ , but my scientist brain just couldn't grasp that. Meanwhile, my anime dork brain was like **ZOMG MAGICAL MONSTERS KAWAII!**

I sighed and dipped a fry into my bowl of ranch and that gained the attention of said magic skeleton monster next to me. “You dip your fries...in _ranch?_ ”

I nodded. “Yeah. I know it's kinda weird but I've met others that do it too. I also dip chicken fingers in ranch - oh, and hot wings in ranch definitely, not blue cheese. I hate blue cheese.”

He made a face of disdain. Again, the two sides of my brain fought with each other. How was _bone_ flexible enough to make _facial expressions?_ In the trial, he hardly made any at all. He kept a constant grin, which at times looked forced to a trained eye. Papyrus had his face buried in a cloth as he blubbered. _I feel bad for having watched that..._

“Blech, blue cheese is disgusting. It's literally rotten, moldy cheese. Who wants to eat that?” Sans chuckled and picked up another onion ring. “But what about ketchup?”

“No, I don't like ketchup.” And the whole table went silent. My eyes darted to each of them confusedly. “What? Is ketchup like sacrilegious to monsters or something?”

“Relax, guys. I'm not gonna eat her 'cause she doesn't like ketchup,” Sans joked and picked up a bottle of said condiment, which had been left on the edge of the table, and squirted half of it all over his rings.

I grimaced. “I take it you _do_ like ketchup?”

He only shrugged again, picking up a red coated ring and wolfing it down in one bite. _Did I just see_ _**fangs** _ _in that mouth, holy crap._ Okay, maybe not fangs but definitely longer canines than normal.

Oh, what the fuck. What was _normal_ anymore anyway?!

I sighed and picked up another fry. “But human, do you dislike tomatoes?”

“Not at all,” I answered Papyrus, who had his face covered in marinara.

“Then do you like spaghetti?”

I smiled. “I _am_ Italian.” The response from all was silence as if they didn't get it. “Um, you know. Italian? Known for _Italian_ food, like spaghetti?”

“Yeah, bro. It's all over those cook books of yours. Like that one; _Taste of Italy_.”

The other bone brother gasped. “OH, OF COURSE! Yes, I know! I didn't know a _human_ could be Italian. I thought that meant the food.”

“Cheyeah, duh, Papyrus. It means she _comes_ from Italy,” Undyne chided.

Papyrus' eyes/sockets widened. “Oh, do you? I've always wanted to go there to learn more about Italian cuisine. What is it like there? Do you speak the language?”

“Whoa, whoa - slow down, Pap. Give her time to breathe,” Sans chuckled.

I put my hands up. “No, it's okay. My family is _from_ Italy but me, I'm from Ohio.” I giggled. “I've never been to Italy, as much as I would like to, and no I don't speak Italian. I always had plans to get Rosetta Stone and learn but...I haven't the time.” I ate another fry.

“How did your family get from Italy to Ohio?” Papyrus asked slowly.

“They migrated from Italy to America. My family is third generation Italian. My great grandpa came here from Sicily.” I smiled, proud of my heritage. “It seemed no matter what, each generation kept having boys until me, so I ended up with the family name. I was also named after my great grandma. So my name sounds rather foreign even though I'm as American as apple pie. That's why I prefer to be called Niki. Fits me better.” Wow, how long had I been rambling? No one seemed to mind though.

“Sounds interesting,” was the response from the shorter skeleton.

“What does 'American as apple pie' mean?” Undyne asked and I felt bad realizing what I had actually said.

So far, monsters were not allowed to be American citizens. They were allowed to be in society, but more like foreigners with visa's. The government hadn't come up with a way to allow animals and _ghosts_ and whatevers to be _legal_ citizens. I'm not sure they ever would.

The fight to allow monsters to _drive_ was bad enough. They started showing up to driving schools and when they weren't allowed, protests and social media came into play once again. Eventually, after red tape and politics, monsters were allowed to learn and were given special licenses. In recent years, monster only driving schools had popped up but they still weren't allowed jobs to drive public transportation.

People could deny them jobs due to them not being American citizens. It was a lame way around the _real_ truth but with driving, more vigorous rules were put into place; like a curfew, treating all monsters like teenagers. Videos of police pulling overs monsters without just cause polluted the internet. Racial profiling was just as front and center as it always was. Some things never change.

There were some videos of police brutality...well, brutality of _many_ different people attacking monsters which is why clinics like Alphys' were needed. Which is why I want to practice monster medicine.

Wish I could tell them all this stuff but all I could do was sit there with my mouth hanging open.

“It means she's p-proud of where she lives,” Alphys answered finally for me and I took a drink of water.

“Yeah.” I felt eye-socket lights on me again.

Papyrus seemed oblivious. “So does that mean you can cook spaghetti? Or other Italian food?”

I dipped another fry, twirling it around. “Well, sure. I have a _ton_ of family recipes.”

I swear I saw those eye lights get brighter. “Don't go there,” Papyrus warned and I looked back and forth between the brothers.

Sans sat back with an amused look on his face. “Oh c'mon, she practically handed it to me.”

What on Earth were they talking about? Is this another pun thing? “Umm, did I say something wrong?”

Sans ate another onion ring just chuckling to himself. “He's an idiot. Ignore him,” Undyne answered. “So you can cook, eh? I admit it's a bit of a hobby of mine.” She picked a nail.

Alphys smiled with a blush. “Yes, she's so g-good at it.”

Papyrus slapped his chest proudly. “Undyne taught me all there is to know about cooking and each day I get better at it! Isn't that right, Sans?”

“Yup,” was the aloof reply as Sans looked at his fingers covered in ketchup. Next thing I knew, his left eye glowed blue and a long tongue the same color came out of his mouth to _lick_ the sauce off his phalanges. He noticed me staring and slipped the new body part back in his mouth. “Wassamatter? Cat got your _tongue?_ ”

Everyone groaned again. “SANS!” Papyrus held his head. “And must you do that in PUBLIC?”

“Yes, I do. You know I always tell jokes.” He winked dramatically. _He has eyelids?!_ I heard Papyrus mutter that wasn't what he meant...

“Besides, you wouldn't let me do the other one. You know how long it's been since I've had a new audience? Throw a guy a bone.”

The shock of a magical _glowing blue tongue_ appearing out of nowhere and disappearing faded in my head, more like I _forced_ it to fade as I thought what the 'other one' coulda been. After a few seconds it hit me what the problem was. “Ohhh...I get it.” Everyone looked at me and I turned to Sans. “A _skele_ ton.”

Undyne slapped her forehead. “Oh, God, not another one!”

Sans had an unreadable smile on his face and I shrunk back. “Um, no. I'm terrible at puns. I just thought about it is all.” I shrugged. “I approach things logically a lot.”

Undyne grinned at that. “Aww, then she's a lot like _you_!” She jabbed her girlfriend next to her.

Alphys tittered. “I told you she was!”

“Hmm...” Sans hummed as he wiped his fingers and corners of his mouth. “Hey, kiddo. You like jokes at all?”

“Here he goes...just when I was about to find out how much she knows about spaghetti...” Papyrus moaned.

“Relax, bro. I'll only be a minute.” Sans' eyes twinkled in mirth and I felt myself getting nervous. “How 'bout it?”

I nodded a little. “Um, okay.”

His grin got wider, if possible. “Knock, knock.”

More groans and sighs went around the table, but I ignored them since I was curious. I always loved a good joke. “Who's there?”

“Dishes.”

I hadn't heard this one before. “Dishes who?”

“Dishes is a bad joke.” I couldn't help it; my mouth curled up and I giggled, which turned into a laugh.

“I called it. She thinks he's funny just like Tori.” Undyne picked her teeth with a nail.

Sans chuckled with me and picked up the ketchup bottle, squirting some in his mouth. Once he “swallowed” he asked, “You know any?”

I blinked a few times, having not seen anyone _drink_ ketchup before. It was kinda nauseating. “Knock, knock jokes? No, but I do know _some_ jokes...like...oh..okay.

“This old couple were sitting on a porch swing. They had been married seventy years. The man turned to his wife and said 'I love you. I'm glad you're here with me.' She says, 'what?' He repeated it louder, 'I love you and I'm glad you're here with me.' She says 'what?' He screams it at her, 'I love you and I'm glad you're here with me!' She says 'oh' and sits silently for a minute before she replies, 'Well, I think you're old and smelly too!”

They all chuckled a bit, except Papyrus. “I don't get it. Why couldn't she understand him?”

“The couple was old, Papyrus. Humans age,” Alphys explained after the snickering died down. Monsters don't age? No one told me that. “When they do, some parts stop working. She couldn't hear him.”

“Ohhhh, I get it now,” he said with a finger to his chin. “Yes, I suppose that's a funny joke.”

Sans reclined back with his hands behind his head. “I dunno. I thought it was _humerus._

Took me a second, but with his brother's groaning again, I got the pun. “Haha...that one really works.” His eyes sparkled a little brighter. “I got another one...

“Four men were on an airplane. Its engines began to fail and the pilot grabbed a parachute, telling them there was only three parachutes left.”

“But there are four people!” Papyrus interjected.

I nodded with a smile. “Exactly. The four men began deciding who would jump and who would be left behind. One stepped up and said 'I'm a doctor and am about to cure cancer. I should take one.' They agreed and he did. The next man said 'I am a scientist and have won many Nobel Peace prizes. I am pretty much the smartest man on the planet. I'm jumping.' He grabbed a bag and jumped out. The two men left looked at each other. One said 'What should we do? Draw straws?' The other replied 'No, we both still have parachutes. The smartest man in the world just jumped out with my backpack.”

The table erupted with laughter, Sans smacking the table once, making it rattle. “That's pretty good!”

“Albeit...a little insulting to a scientist like myself, but y-yeah very funny,” Alphys complimented between giggles.

“Yes, very amusing, human,” Papyrus chuckled. “So can we get back to talking about spaghetti?”

Everyone but me groaned.

“Paps, we don't have all night. I'm sure Nicoletta has a life,” Sans commented, using my full name for some reason.

“Um, Niki, and it's okay...”

“You are right, brother. We should exchange phone numbers to text cooking tips!” Papyrus reached _somewhere_ and pulled out an old flip phone. “Put your number in my phone, human!”

“Uhhhh...” Yeah, I was just gonna hand over my phone number to a tall skeleton monster. That made total sense. But as a chill went up my spine and I saw Sans staring at me from the corner of my eye with no lights in his, I got the feeling hurting his brother's feelings was not a good choice. “Okay...” The chill got worse, and did his eyes get blacker?

Wait, did he _not_ want me to? But I just said yes! Papyrus was practically spinning with glee, clapping his hands together as I entered my digits into his old phone. “And now you enter in my number!”

I numbly reached in my purse and pulled out my phone to hand to him. “Oh, no...I can't use one of those touch screen phones...”

I tilted my head. “Why not?”

“Touch screen doesn't respond to them,” Alphys answered me. “I'm trying to invent one that does, so we're w-working on it.”

I bit my lip again. “Oh. Well, all you would need is a stylus. See, mine has one.” I pulled out the stylus pen and showed it to him. I moved it on the screen and changed some menus. “Now you try.” He seemed so sad about not having a smart-phone so I wanted to show him he could have one, just the right one for _him._

He took the stylus and moved around the menu screens with a gasp. “Brother! It works! I can use a smart-phone! Those people at the shop were wrong! There is a phone I can use!”

I turned to Sans. “Wait, what?”

Sans shifted in the booth. “He went to a phone store and asked for help in finding a smart-phone that could respond to his touch. They told him there wasn't one and they couldn't help him. Oh and, get out of our store.”

I swallowed guiltily. “I see. He just needs a stylus. It should work fine...”

He snorted. “Yeah, if he can _afford_ one. The prices here are outrageous. Makes me wonder how humans afford _anything_.” His sockets were still black and I could tell what he meant, and that he knew I knew what he meant.

People were charging higher prices for monsters. Especially since it was revealed they had gold. Like, actual gold coins they used for money, and they had a LOT of it. It was only a matter of time before greedy humans bled monsters dry of their wealth, forcing them to rely only on human currency.

“Papyrus should have plenty of money. I sure do,” Undyne said as she drank some water. “I took my gold to a bank and they converted it all to cash. I was able to buy my phone in full. And I can go back to the bank anytime I want and get more cash.”

_If the bank doesn't eat your gold in fees,_ I bitterly thought. No doubt she wasn't paid what her gold was worth. No way any bank or pawn shop or jewelery store or whatever would convert what the gold was _really_ worth. Eventually she would run out. They all would and would have to rely on getting human jobs to pay for things. It was shocking five years after leaving Mt. Ebbot, they still had gold left. But like every other resource we burn through and thing we ruin, this would be one of many.

I sighed heavily as Papyrus continued ogling over my phone. “I used a bank too, Undyne. Hey, there are games on this! Do you have any puzzle games, human?”

“Her name is Nicoletta, bro.”

I frowned. He was doing that on purpose. “ _Niki_.” And I looked at him. The lights were back and he smirked at me. Actually _smirked_ at me! He _was_ doing it on purpose, the jerkwad.

He chuckled low at my face and I huffed turning back to his brother. “Yes, there are many puzzle games.” Papyrus almost squealed like a fangirl.

“I am going to buy one of these immediately!”

“Pap...you don't really need a smart-phone...” Sans started. “They are expensive. Plus you have to pay for the phone plan. Our own plan's prices have raised three times already.”

Papyrus waved him off. “Nonsense. I have plenty of gold left in my bank account.”

Sans shook his head. “Okay.”

“Do _you_ have an account?” I asked before I could stop myself.

“No, he does not,” the taller answered for him. “He barely had any gold when he left the Underground, and I have to pay for everything as usual! Some things never change.” He handed back my phone. “Thank you, Ni-co-let-ta,” he finished slowly.

I grimaced and nodded, taking back my Galaxy 15X. “You're welcome.”

Sans was grinning at me. Jerk.

The evening soon was over and we'd all disbursed, making our way to the parking lot. Alphys and Undyne got into a truck and sped off after Undyne slapped my back saying something about an anime night, and Alphys said “see you at work tomorrow.” Papyrus got into a red sports car after he wished me a fond farewell. Exact words.

Sans was left with me and I swallowed. “So, see ya later...”

“Thanks for paying your side of the bill, even though they didn't want you to,” he said softly.

“No problem. I pay my own way.” Totally since I was in major student loan debt. Course, I try not to think about that. He grinned at me and was headed towards a motorcycle. “Oh, cool! I love motorcycles...”  
  
“Yeah?” He put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall of the restaurant. “Ever ride one?”

I shook my head. “No...I'm too scared, heheh...” I rubbed my neck.

His eyes narrowed, but still smiling. “Then how do you know you _love_ them?”

I snorted a little. “I guess humans throw that word around too much, huh? I meant I like how they look and stuff and have always wanted to ride one.”

His grin faded a little. “Hmm. And you want to be a doctor, huh?”

I looked around. “Yeah.”

“In monster medicine.”

“Yeah?”

His smile was gone now. “Why?”

I faltered a little but recovered. “I want to help. I think it's terrible how humans are treating your people. I just want to make a difference.”

He nodded. “Okay, then.” I blinked and suddenly he was on the motorcycle, revving it up. “Good luck with that, Nicoletta.”

The engine roared as he sped past me, only for me to scream, “IT'S NIKI!”

I swear I heard him laughing, the jackass. And how did he _do_ that?! Did he like, _teleport_ to the thing?!

I sighed. I had a feeling this wasn't the last time I would be seeing any of these monsters. My phone buzzed and I looked down at the text.

**Papyrus:** Hello, human! I realized I forgot to give you my number so here is a text! Be sure to put me in your contacts so you won't forget who I am! Of course, who could ever forget the great Papyrus? Talk to you later! About spaghetti! LOL LOL LOL

I pursed my lips, making a sucking sound.

Yep, this would be fun.

~TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Just wow. The response I got is amazing! Thank you for all the nice reviews! 
> 
> As for Sans, I hope I hinted that something is amiss without him being too OOC :/ 
> 
> Also I watch too much Markiplier and his playthrough of HuniePop and I couldn't help but put Celeste in here...except with a cat face. Heh. Thanks again! :)


	3. Anime Date Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am [Just 2 Dream of You on/](https://www.fanfiction.net/~just2dreamofyou) on FFN and [dezzydoesthings/](http://dezzydoesthings.tumblr.com/) on tumblr. Check me out!

Absence of Fear  
  
Chapter Three: Anime Date Night

X -x-x-x-x- X

I woke up to my alarm blaring and sighed heavily, untangling myself from my butt length hair - I really need to get a haircut - and sitting up. I pressed my phone off and looked at the screen real quick, realizing I slept in my contacts AGAIN. I was gonna end up blind before I learned anything. Another sigh and I quickly let my eyes adjust, checking my messages to see I had...

What the fuck - _**FIFTY**_ new texts?!

I gasped and scrolled through them, seeing they were all from this new number I had added in my phone the night before.

Papyrus. The skeleton monster.

“Ohhhkaaay...” I breathed. “Eager much, honey?” I shook my head in disbelief, discerning the messages went from asking questions about cooking, asking how I was doing, apologizing for bothering me so much, worrying that he had made me angry, was I still alive, then finally; you must be too shy to answer me back because you like me so much!

I licked my dry lips and got out of bed, shuffling to the bathroom. I debated whether or not to reply to the guy. I mean, on one hand he _seemed_ harmless and on the other he was like a total stalker. The real problem is he was one of Alphys' friends and I didn't want her to get upset. Yeah, she was also my boss but honestly I was more worried that she would get hurt rather than her firing me 'cause I didn't like one of her pals.

Okay, it wasn't that I _didn't_ like Papyrus; I didn't _know_ him! And sending a stranger you just met the night before FIFTY texts through the night isn't the best first impression. Neither were the looks his brother was sending me all night. Now _that guy_ gave me the creeps. One minute he was yukking it up and the next he was giving me death glares through empty eye sockets. What was his problem?

And would he be mad if I blew off his brother? _The one he threw teenagers around for..._

I gulped. I _really_ wish I hadn't watched that damn video. I wouldn't be so uncomfortable if I hadn't. He would just be some scary skeleton monster with fangs and unknown magical powers. Yep.

I sucked my bottom lip and put my hair behind my ear. “Oh, hell...YOLO, right? Or some crap...” I mumbled in my still half sleep state and sent a quick reply.

 **Niki** : Hey sorry about about that. I was asleep. I have to get up early for work. I'm not mad.

I sat the phone down and went to brush my teeth when it rumbled immediately. “Geez, man...” I put paste on my brush and began with one hand while reading my new text with the other.

 **Papyrus:** Human! You are alive! I am so relieved!

I couldn't help the smile that came to my face. I finished with a spit and replied.

 **Niki:** No worries. I do need to get ready for work, so ttyl?

I began brushing my hair into a ponytail to get ready for a shower, and the next reply I got was like ten happy emoji's. I giggled and pulled my hair up, took my shower, got dressed, ate an energy bar and drove to the clinic.

Alphys greeted me like she did every morning but this time her smile was a bit wider. “Hi, Niki. We've got a few patients to check up on this morning.”

I blinked. “Oh?” Yes, this was a monster clinic but monster's didn't get sick very often or hurt as much. That being said, with recent hate crimes from humans, we did see an increase in injuries. Alphys told me that magic can heal injuries, as well as good old fashioned TLC, which we were here to provide.

I went into the first exam room and cringed when I saw what was clearly a very young monster with a big bruise on their head. I looked back at Alphys and she encouraged me on to examine them. I stepped in and gave my best smile. They looked up and began shaking when they saw me. “Hey, no...it's okay. I'm a resident here...” I soothed in a soft voice.

They looked behind me to Alphys and she stepped in. “A resident is a doctor in training, Jethris. She will check you out today.”

The monster kid calmed a little as I came to inspect their injury. They were a strange type of monster, almost like a chicken mixed with something else, except they had no arms. They were so small and fragile looking and the wound covered half of their head. I sighed got out my flashlight. “Okay, follow the light, Jethris.” They did and I didn't see any problems with their pupils or reaction. No other problems with reflexes seemed apparent and now it was time to check their vitals.

Now a monster's vitals were of course different from a human's. They didn't have blood pressure or even a heartbeat, probably because they didn't have hearts...or any other kind of organ a human had. But the way it was explained to me, what did they have was something called HP, which was short for Health Points almost like a video game. I remember giggling when I first heard it and my teacher gave me quite the stern look. HP was a serious matter and I soon learned that. When a monster's HP bottomed out, they died or “dusted” as they called it. They literally turned to dust. Which worried me that humans could kill these creatures without any evidence. All it would take is a cleaning crew. Made me wonder if any law enforcement task units would be created to search for evidence of such things. 'Course that would require study, instruments that could detect monster remains and the biggest pain of all; money. I figured it would be a good long while before changes like that were made. After all, Alphys and all her friends seemed shocked at me being in monster medicine...so...I wasn't all that hopeful.

I took out an HP Meter and scanned Jethris with it. It read 10/24, indicating they had lost more than half of their HP. I sighed and showed it to Alphys. “Well? What do we do next, Miss Moretti?”

We were acting so clinical but the answer sounded like a fairy tale. We had to give the little monster a dose of magic. Eventually monsters healed on their own, but the lower the HP the slower they healed, and having an injured HP put them at risk for further damage. For instance, if a monster had an HP of 1 left they would be susceptible to _any_ injury. Even something as simple as stubbing their toe could do them in. Quite a terrifying notion. Which is why clinics like ours were needed. We increased the healing time, made it go faster.

I went into the cabinet and took out a vial of medicine. They would need at least three small doses to recover fully so I set the proper milligram dosage and handed it to them, which they took on their tail feather instead of an arm. “Thanks...” Jethris shyly replied and I nodded.

Alphys nodded at me. “E-Excellent. I didn't even have to tell you the amount to prescribe. You're doing really well, Niki.”

I smiled. Yes, the whole magic thing was hard to understand at first but honestly what I handed the kid looked like just a vial of drinkable medicine. There were a few cases that required a shot directly into their...souls really, but that was a few months back and I was glad we hadn't seen any new patients that needed that kind of attention. Anyway, this _magic_ didn't seem like what I thought magic would be.

Which reminded me. “Alphys, is it true some monster foods have healing properties?”

“Well, yes. But only if they have magic in them. The monsters have to put their own magic in them to work. So when we cook human food it isn't the same.”

“So why aren't we just serving food?” I asked with a little chuckle.

She turned to me. “Niki...t-times have changed a b-bit. Most of our food i-isn't as fast acting as we need it to be. The medicine works quicker. See...our food heals humans faster than it does us... _we_ need something s-stronger to recover HP.”

I gasped. “Your food can heal humans too? Oh, man...don't tell any humans this...they'll be clamoring for your stuff like mad.”

“Yes...we've realized not to put magic in the food we sell to humans anymore...too risky.”

I nodded sadly. The next two patients were minor injuries and I noticed none of these patients said _how_ they were damaged. I knew the answer and it made my stomach sour. “Hey...you said you have to put your _own_ magic into the food you make...does that mean all of our medicine is your magic?”

She chuckled softly. “Heh...mine and the o-other doctors on staff here. Magic replenishes itself naturally so we have an unlimited supply, really. We also have people come in to d-donate all the time.”

 _Oh, like a blood drive. That makes sense._ “That's wonderful. I'm glad it's all natural.”

The rest of the day went on as normal, a few bruises and scrapes and one very happy rabbit couple that were expecting twins. Monster pregnancy was another enigma. Apparently it was created by both parties merging their magic somehow. Then they chose whoever to carry the literal bundle of magic until it was ready to come out. It didn't take as long as a human pregnancy. About three months versus nine. Also it wasn't always the female that carried. The male could as well if that's what they decided. Also same sex couples could create a baby together if they wanted. I thought that was pretty freaking cool. It made me wish humans could be like that.

The clinic closed at night due to funds unable to keep it running 24/7. It also gave us time to have lives so to speak, if only a few hours every night. After a long but nice day, it was time to do just that.

“S-So I wanted to ask...do you think we could watch that _Yu Yu Hakusho_ soon? I looked it up and it seems interesting. I know Undyne would love it...” Alphys tentatively asked.

“Looked it up, huh? What did I tell you about no spoilers?” I teased.

She blushed and rubbed her neck. “I couldn't help it...but I don't know _everything_...”

I nodded with a smile. “It's okay. Back when _Once Upon a Time_ was on T.V., I looked up spoilers all the time on FaceBook. I totally get it.” I put away some supplies.

“Well? U-Um...could we watch it someday?” She blushed further.

I laughed. “It's 112 episodes, Alphys...It would take a while...” I shook my head. “But, yeah I could get my DVDs out.” Yeah, right. _Out._ Like they don't sit on my shelf every stinking day.

She smiled bright and clapped her hands together. “Oh, good...that's...good. Heh. So...”

She was so awkward and there was no reason for her to be. At least not around me. That's when I remembered and figured now was a good time to breach the spaghetti skeleton subject. “Hey, um? I got some texts from Papyrus...”

She brightened at the mention of his name. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah...fifty of them.” She laughed a little. “No, I'm serious. Friggin' _fifty_.”

She blinked a few times. “Oh. _Ohh._ Um. Heh. He's very...passionate...about...life in general. He's harmless, Niki, I swear. Please don't be mad at him...” She looked sad now, just as I suspected and I sighed heavily.

“No, I'm not mad. Not at all. Just...I dunno...cautious? I don't know the guy...”

She nodded, a bit of her smile returning. “He is a total sweetheart, trust me. He wouldn't harm a fly.” She paused. “He actually tries to catch them and set them free. Takes forever, according to Sans.”

I bristled at that name. And she noticed. “Oh. Yeah.” Now it was my turn to be awkward and nervous.

She patted my shoulder. “Don't let Sans scare you either. He wouldn't hurt you...” She faltered a little then cleared her throat. “Anyway, are you gonna reply to Papyrus?”

I shrugged. “I guess? I'm not really sure what he wants from me, though. I don't know _that_ much about spaghetti...”

Alphys giggled. “He just likes making new friends.” I smiled a little and pulled out my phone. Oh, well. Now or never. I quickly sent out a text.

 **Niki:** Hi there. I'm off work now :)

If this morning was any indication, it wouldn't be long before - oh, wait there goes my phone buzzing. I giggled as Alphys leaned in to read my new text with me.

 **Papyrus:** Human! Hello! How was your day? Did you treat many patients?

Alphys had a big stupid grin on her face. “He's a sweetie. You'll like him, I promise. Everyone does...e-even if he annoys them. It's like this special power he has.” She shrugged and went back to putting away things as I typed my reply.

 **Niki** : Yeah we had a few. Nothing too serious tho

I guess it wasn't so bad. I liked texting buddies. Most of my friends were exactly that. I was a bit of a homebody and didn't go out to socialize much. Going out with Alphys and her friends last night was my first time in a long time. Usually, I'd be curled up in my bed with my tablet reading fanfiction...or uh, a _real_ book...but usually fanfiction. Such a nerd.

My phone buzzed back.

 **Papyrus:** Oh, that's good! I'm glad no serious injuries had to be treated. You're done for the day?

 **Niki:** I sure am (happy emoji)

 **Papyrus:** Great! Do you have any plans for the night?

Oh. Now I felt nervous again. What exactly was he gonna ask of me? My stranger danger kept creeping back up in my stomach and I swallowed. “Um, Alphys? Did you want to watch Yu Yu like soon or...?”

She turned to me. “Hm? Why? You wanna bring it over tonight?”

I felt awful using her like this, and I was totally encroaching on her life; her and Undyne's. I mean, that chick barely knew _me_ and I was gonna impose on her like I was fearing Papyrus would do to me. I was an awful person. _Suck it up_ , I thought and I shook my head. “Uh, no. Just ask Undyne when would be a good time and I'll bring it over.”

She grinned wide, unaware of how I was just totally gonna use her to escape my own fears and took out her phone. “S-Sure! I'll ask her now.”

 _Great_ , my mind guilted. I texted back.

 **Niki:** I'm not sure yet. Why?

A few seconds. Man, he can type fast!

 **Papyrus:** Because Undyne has offered me to come over and watch anime with her! Perhaps you would like to join us?

My stomach went cold. Just then Alphys came over with, “She said tonight would be great! What time do you wanna come over?”

 Wait, what was happening right now? Yeah, Alphys was my friend and we'd gotten close in six months but I JUST MET her girlfriend last night, who apparently wanted to hang out with me along with her other friend Papyrus, who JUST **MET** me. Were all monsters like this? Just immediately latch into someone and be like “OMG we just met and now we're BFF's!” Kind of like that dog in _UP._

Monsters were weird....if not pleasantly so. But it didn't sound logical that every single monster would be this sickeningly sweet, which is why I was cautious. _Sans certainly wasn't..._ But...Alphys was expectantly smiling at me and I did like _her_ at least. I could give it a go just this once. “Well, I guess when you guys are ready...Did you know that Undyne invited Papyrus over too?”

She blanched. “Oh...y-yeah...she told me she might...but I didn't know it was confirmed...did he say it was?” I nodded. “O-Oh...well, if you're uncomfortable...”

“No-no!” I assured her. “It's fine. Heh, I can get _three_ people to watch Yu Yu now instead of two.” I grinned like the wicked fangirl I was.

So the event was set and after I shed my scrubs and got into another simple outfit at home (orange tank top, jeans and kitty hoodie again), I was headed over to Alphys' apartment. My sweet babies were nestled into the set next to me. I had only grabbed one DVD. I doubted we'd get past the first three episodes, so that was a safe choice. Plus they may not like the series after these episodes. Honestly, the series doesn't pick up until Yusuke gets brought back to life. In my opinion anyway.

The thought that they may not invite me back to watch the rest both relieved and saddened me. I was such a mix of emotions that I wasn't sure what to feel. Did I really want this? Was I just doing this to be nice? Was it smart to ingratiate myself into their lives? I sighed heavily and pulled hair from my face. Again, I really need to get that cut.

I pulled into the apartment complex and parked. I grabbed my stuff and went to the number they told me. As I walked to the door, I took note of all the “For Rent” signs that were up in windows. I'd hate to find out that all these were empty 'cause Alphys and Undyne moved in but...I knew it was probably the case.

I walked up the steps and rang the bell, hearing multiple shouts from two voices. Papyrus apparently was already here. The door opened and Undyne was there to greet me with a _huge_ toothy grin. Yikes, her teeth were sharp looking. “Hey there, sugar. You got the goods?”

I laughed. “What is this, a drug deal?” She gave me a stern look like, 'I ain't playin'. I gulped and held out my precious cargo.

“Hmm. Looks...old,” she said as she glanced the cover.

I pouted. “It is...but worth it.” She moved aside to let me in and I threw a look at her from behind my shoulder. “And uh...don't dis my boys.” My tone was serious and she raised an eyebrow.

“Yep. You are definitely an anime dork like Alphys.”

I giggled, tilting my head like an anime character. “And what does that make _you_?”

She shrugged and shut the door. “A _cool_ anime fan.”

“Did somebody say cool, because I am the epitome of it!”

I turned to see Papyrus come out of the kitchen wearing a “Cool Dude” hat with a “Best Chef Ever” apron tied to his waist. I had to hold in a laugh. The rest of his clothes were the same. Now that I thought of it, he was _dressed_ as an anime character.

“How's that food comin', Paps?” Undyne asked as she sauntered into the kitchen to check.

“I did just as you asked, Undyne.” He turned to me. “Human...er, Niki!” I smiled as he remembered my name. “Are we going to watch that DVD?”

I nodded. “Yep. This is my favorite anime.” I shyly handed the box to him as he inspected it.

“Oh! Then I thank you for sharing it with us.” He looked like he was giving me a smile, though it was hard to tell, really. I nodded as he gave back my DVD. “We are making lasagna. It's like a spaghetti cake!”

I smiled. “Yes, I know.”

He brightened even more, if possible. “Do you know how to make that too?”

“It's _Italian_ food.” I winked. “My grandma has a killer recipe.”

He blinked as his face fell. “Oh, we better not try it then if it kills people.”

Laughter ensued from the kitchen. “You fool!” Undyne gasped in hilarity. “It means she has a _great_ recipe!”

I swear his skull turned a noticeable shade of orange/red. “I...I knew that! NYEH HEH HEH! Just a joke I was making! I'm new to puns! I'm not like my brother after all, making them all the time!” He chuckled nervously as the girls in the other room continued to laugh. “Heh, heh...ah. Oh, well.” He shrugged. “You should cook us some of these recipes your 'grandma' made. I would love to try them.”

“Uh, well...maybe someday. We'll see.” His mood lightened after that.

An explosion rocked the kitchen and I screamed. Papyrus ran in and yelling ensued. I was debating if I should go in there but I decided not to...that was safest. Alphys came out with a sheepish grin. “Eh heh...you like pizza? I just ordered some with my phone.”

I looked around and chuckled a little. “Emoji?”

She giggled with a nod. “Emoji.”

I sighed and sat down on the couch while Undyne and Papyrus kept arguing. “Sure. I love pizza...any pizza. Uh, what happened in there?”

Alphys shrugged. “Undyne thought it was taking too long so she set the oven really high and left it uncovered...heh. She sure is fun sometimes.” I get the feeling Alphys really meant that with the way she blushed.

“Would you like some help cleaning up?”

“No way! You're our guest!” Undyne came back in. “I'm making the oven self clean. Open the windows. It's gonna stink.”

Alphys shook her head with humor and did as she asked. “Well...let's pop in that DVD while we wait for pizza.”

Papyrus jumped up and down. “Excellent! A new show with a new friend!”

I gasped. He already thought of me as a friend? I wasn't sure how to feel about that... But I got up and put in the disc, hoping they wouldn't find this _old_ anime too lame.

We managed to make it half way through the ep when the pizza came. Alphys paid for it and came back with three pies. One was a veggie, the other was olives and bacon and the third was extra cheese. Interesting choices. Papyrus chose the cheese, Alphys the veggie and Undyne took the third.

I chose the cheese because out of all three, that looked the best. I'm a sucker for cheese.

“Human! You enjoy the same pizza as me!” He grinned wide at me and I smiled back.

“Yup. Cheese pizza is my favorite.”

“ME TOO!”

We finished the episode and I went around the (coffee) table asking for opinions. “Well, what did everyone think?”

Undyne went for another piece - the last piece (did all monsters eat this much?) and sat back. “Not sure yet. It seems good; kinda funny. I'm willing to give it a shot since you said it was a _fighting_ shonen anime.” She took a massive bite, enveloping the slice in half. “It better be anyway!”

I nodded furiously. “Oh, trust me. It is. _So_ much face cramming.”

Alphys giggled. “Let's keep watching.”

I reached for another slice - I had only eaten two so far - and there was just one left, thanks to the skeleton eating just as fast as the fish. My hand touched Papyrus' as he was reaching for it too and I pulled back quickly as my finger met his gloved hand. “Oh, um...uh...sorry. Y-You can have it.” I felt my face get hot. I'm not sure why I was getting so flustered.

He looked at me curiously. “Not at all, Niki. You may have it. I have eaten enough already! After all, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't let you have enough food?” And he laughed.

“Are you sure? I don't really _need_ it...” Thanks to my schedule I didn't have time to eat as healthy as I would like. Plus...I enjoyed dairy and meats too much. My bottom side was paying for my preferences in spades. Seriously, my butt had gotten so big, it was embarrassing. Especially since my chest wasn't matching up. I looked like a pear, at least in my opinion. But Papyrus insisted, loudly in fact, so I took the final piece, feeling like a big fat cow.

Oh, well. It was a really good pizza.

We finished off the next two episodes and I realized it was nearing nine at night. They all seemed to like it enough and Alphys was already asking to see the rest. Papyrus agreed. “I would love to see the rest of this interesting story!”

Undyne shrugged. “Yeah, I'll keep watching it.”

I smiled, happy that my babies had been well received. I took the disc out and put it back in the box. “Well, this was fun! If you want to see the rest, I'd be happy to show it all to you...it'll take awhile though, hehe.”

“Niki, we should get together and watch it _every_ night!”

“Papyrus, she has a job, you know...” Undyne shook her head in what looked like exasperation.

“I know that, Undyne! I was offering anyway.”

I thought about it. Tonight had been really enjoyable and I felt my insecurities melt away with the hours. They were all so different from each other, yet nice. Honestly, the worst part of the whole experience was the stinky oven cleaning itself. “I guess if you guys really wanted to watch it every night, I could manage.”

Papyrus gasped loudly. “Did you hear that?! She _likes_ me! She really likes me!”

“Ho boy,” Undyne muttered and I looked back and forth between them.

“Um...yes, Papyrus. I like you,” I said genuinely.

“HO BOY.” I looked in the direction of that outburst seeing both girls tittering behind their hands. I looked back to Papyrus, confused what was so funny and paused at his expression.

He eerily looked down at me. “Do you like puzzles, human?”

I stuttered. “I guess...yeah?”

He gasped again with a hand to his chest. “You are madly in love with me, aren't you?!”

My air stopped moving. “Wha...WHAT.”

“It is so obvious! You like spaghetti! Your favorite pizza is also my favorite! You like puzzles! You admitted you like me and did that thing humans do...what is it called...blushing?-when your hand touched mine! Clearly you are harboring feelings for someone as cool as me! AND your whole family is Italian and loves such cuisines! It was like WE WERE MADE FOR EACH OTHER!”

I was unable to form sound as his tirade continued.

“I should ask you on a date but-” he dramatically gasped again, “-we have already been on one tonight! Yes, that's it! This whole night was a clever ruse to date me! NYEH HEH HEH! I see through your trick, human! And since our first date has been so successful and we have found so much in common, you are now my girlfriend and we shall have more dates!”

The two lesbians on the couch were cackling at me and I was about to have a fish fry with a side of dinosaur tots.

“Wha...”

“I'm going to tell my brother this wonderful news!”

Undyne choked. “You're gonna tell SANS?!”

Papyrus nodded. “Of course I am! I want to tell the world of my wonderful, cool-but-not-as-cool-as-me girlfriend!” He hopped up and ran upstairs. “I shall return, girlfriend!”

The two girls kept laughing and gagging as I just sat there dumbfounded. I looked at them both with a squeak. “Help?”

Undyne wiped her eyes as Alphys cleared her throat. “Oh, don't mind him. It won't last long...I-I hope, anyway. He's done this a few times before.”

“Yeah, like with Frisk. That was hilarious,” Undyne added.

Frisk? A _child?_ What the fuck? Did Papyrus even know what _dating_ was? Before I could stop it, my mouth voiced my thoughts. “Why would Papyrus date a child?”

Both their smiles fell. Undyne was giving me an unreadable look...no, not quite unreadable..suspicious. “How do you know about Frisk?”

I scoffed at her accusing tone. “Uh, Alphys told me. Plus I saw it on the news. She somehow freed you from the Underground?” The details were foggy but according to the reports, Frisk was claiming there was a magic _barrier_ around the mountain and she somehow broke it. Reporters and analysts instantly discounted it saying the monsters must have found her when she fell and used her to convince us they were harmless. This was during the trial. Everyone had testified how she had helped them get over their fear of humanity. It was sickening they had every reason to still be afraid.

Undyne didn't seem comforted by my answer. “How much of the news did you see?”

 _She figured it out._ The way she was looking at me; She knew. She could tell that I'd seen the trial and basically knew all of them already. Yes, I recognized her from the coverage, all of them really. It was hard when I first met Alphys since I had seen her testify. But I honestly didn't expect to meet any of the other monsters and I had no idea they were all so closely intertwined. How was I supposed to know any of this?

I decided to answer in a half truth. “Some. It was kinda hard not to when you all first showed up. It was all anyone ever talked about.”

She slammed her hands down on the table, cracking the wood. In fact, I think she broke the thing. “That doesn't answer my question!”

Papyrus came running back downstairs. “WOWIE! My brother was so overjoyed, he decided to come over and meet you! Can you believe that?! He is actually putting effort into something!”

Undyne looked shocked and for the moment was distracted from me. “WHAT. He...is getting off his ass and coming here? Whoa...he must be _really_...” she looked over at me, a wicked gleam in her eyes. “... _ **overjoyed.**_ ”

The doorbell rang.

Papyrus nearly jumped with glee. “Look how fast he got here!”

Okay, unless these two brothers live like in the same complex or Sans went 200 MPH there is no way he could be here that fast!

He opened the door to reveal the smaller brother who looked as if he could care less. His hands were shoved in his pockets, head leaning to a sloppy side, wide smile on his face. Wait, now that I think of it...he never really _stopped_ smiling... _weird..._

“Brother! You didn't need to come over so quickly! You've already met my girlfriend!”

Sans peered in and took one look at me, then shrugged back at his brother. “So I have. What made you decide to date her, bro?”

“I already told you on the phone! Weren't you listening? We have so much in common and get along great!” he proudly explained with his hands on his hips. I was blushing mad from embarrassment.

Sans stepped in and looked at the two girls sitting across from me. “And I suppose you two are chill with this.”

Alphys stuttered. “Oh, but this is like Frisk...”

I swear the guy grit his teeth. “Frisk is a _child._ She is _**not.**_ ” His pupils?-rested on me and I felt a chill run up my spine as we made eye contact. It felt like he was staring straight into my _soul._

And just like that, the moment was gone and he was leaning to the side with a lopsided grin as if he wasn't just eating my brain five seconds ago. “Welp, whatever you want, Paps.”

“Excellent! I propose a date tomorrow with you, Niki! What do you say?”

The room just went _frigid_. Papyrus, bless him so, seemed oblivious as usual. It was in this moment that I realized I was alone in a room surrounded by monsters. Actual, “Mommy, there's a monster under my bed - I hear a scary sound in my closet,” _monsters._ Monsters with _powers._ And two of them looked like they wanted to implode me.

If I said yes, it would piss them off but if I said no and hurt Papyrus... “I...can't! I have to work tomorrow!”

Alphys made a noise. “No...you don't...Tomorrow is Sunday. The clinic is closed...remember?”

I gulped as my world went red. I was so stuck and I had nowhere to run. My options remained the same. I sighed heavily. “Um...sure, Papyrus.”

He clapped his hands like a little kid. “How lucky am I!”

Undyne sat back on the couch. “Hey, I've got a great idea. Why don't we double date? You and Niki, me and Al? It'll be a _blast_...” She grinned like a shark at me.

“Oh, Undyne! A date with my girlfriend _and_ best friend? That sounds wonderful!”

A low voice chimed in. “Hey, whad'ya know? Count your brother in too.”

Papyrus gasped loudly. “Really, Sans? You mean it?” Sans nodded. “Oh, but...you won't have a date...”

There was a brief moment that perma-smile fell, just a little, then snapped right back into place. “Eh, I'm fine with bein' the fifth wheel. After all, every vehicle needs a spare.”

Papyrus thought about it for a second then grabbed Sans in well, a _bone_ _crushing_ hug. “Oh, Sans! I'll forgive that lame attempt at a joke and accept! We shall all go out together! This will be the best date of my life!” He put down his smaller brother and opened the door with dramatic flair. “I shall go home to prepare for our cool date, Niki! Text me when you're ready to initiate it! NYEH HEH HEH!” And he ran out the door.

“Okay, um-” Undyne slapped my back before I could continue and I winced.

“Better get going home. It's pretty late.” She guided me past Sans and out the front door.

“W-Wait! My DVD!”

“Ohhhh...” She squeezed my shoulder, _hard._ “I'll just keep that here for safekeeping. After all, we want to make sure Pap has a _great_ day tomorrow, _right?_ ” She squeezed painfully with each enunciated word.

I looked to the doorway and saw Alphys giving me a silent apology.

“W-Wha...”

“Because if you break that goober's heart I'll make you pay in more ways than one.” She released me and went back in, slamming the door.

Finally I could breathe and I lost my shit. “What?! She's holding my DVD _hostage?!_ WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“You're a little firecracker when you're mad, ain't ya?” I turned towards that low voice again. He never left the apartment and my teleport theory was all but confirmed now.

I spun around, stuttering like an idiot. “I...that wasn't...I have no idea what happened in there.”

He chuckled, shaking his head as he faced away from me. “I know exactly what happened in there.” I sighed in relief. “I also know that tomorrow you're gonna find a way to let him down as gently as possible without hurting his feelings...” His skull began turning back to look at me.

The wind stopped blowing.

His right eye was totally black, but what caught a lump in my throat was the left; glowing with a black pupil surrounded by a blue iris. It was almost oddly pretty if not totally terrifying, especially coupled with how he was _grinning_ at me. That was no smile. It was a death threat, much like how Undyne looked at me.

“... **or you're gonna have a bad time**.”

I blinked and he was gone. Teleport theory _definitely_ confirmed.

I blinked a few more times and sputtered out some air. “A _bad time_? What kind of veiled threat is that? What does that even mean?!”

So what have I accomplished in the last 48 hours? I managed to alienate my good friend's girlfriend and somehow made a date with another one of her friends and alienated his brother.

So two monsters liked me and two wanted to eat me. I guess 50/50 wasn't so bad.

I sighed heavily and walked to my car. How could I find a way to let Papyrus down without hurting him? He didn't _really_ think I was his girlfriend, did he? My mind was putty trying to come up with a way to get out of this with my butt intact.

Not to mention my poor DVD's life was at stake. That was original release, dammit! I hit my head against the wheel and groaned. I wasn't going to figure it out sitting here in the parking lot. I needed sleep.

I started the engine and swallowed hard, the image of that blue glowing eye haunting me all the way home...

~TBC

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't guarantee my updates will be as fast as everyone else in this fandom, hehe. But I shall try my best! I am determined! 
> 
> Anyway, to all of you wondering, "this is a Sans/OC and yet we haven't seen them interact for more than ten sentences!" Build up. Tension. Time and effort. Real life takes those things. Be patient. It'll be worth it ;)


	4. The Perfect Boyfriend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am [Just 2 Dream of You on/](https://www.fanfiction.net/~just2dreamofyou) on FFN and [dezzydoesthings/](http://dezzydoesthings.tumblr.com/) on tumblr.

Absence of Fear  
  
Chapter Four: The Perfect Boyfriend

X -x-x-x-x- X

I woke up in a cold sweat, my eyes darting around. My room was dark, save for a few vampire lights from varied electronics casting an eery blue glow

Ugh, _blue._ Suddenly blue was my most hated color. I sighed heavily and checked my clock. It was Sunday. My one day off. The one day a week I have to sleep in.

And it was 4:23 AM.

I groaned and fell back on my pillow. I doubted I was gonna to get back to sleep but I did that thing where you lay down and hope you drift for a few minutes yet you never do 'cause your mind is racing. Spooky scary skeletons ran through my head as I tossed and turned, realizing for the first time how lumpy and hard my mattress was. And my pillow was _unbearably_ hot. I mean really, is it _that_ hard to find a cool spot?

Every sound my apartment made set me on edge. I was _excruciatingly_ aware of every creak my neighbors made, every dog barking outside, every car passing on the street and my damn alarm clock ticking.

How the hell did I ever sleep with this much freaking noise?!

I sat up, yanking off the covers briskly and headed to the kitchen, making sure to stomp so everyone in the building could hear me. I made it to my Keurig and pressed a few buttons.

I would need lots of caffeine to survive this day.

After drinking my caramel macchiato flavored coffee, I set to the task of picking out my clothes for this... _outing._

If I picked something pretty he would think I was serious. If I picked something slacker-y it would seem like I didn't care and was being disrespectful. I hung my head. I was actually debating outfit types as if this was a real date.

I finally settled on what suited me best. A nice, white dress shirt and jeans. Not too pretty and not too grunge. I looked at the clock. 6:52 AM.

Great. Now I had HOURS to just sit and wait for him to text. I chuckled. It really _was_ a date.

So of course...I had plenty of time to wonder how I would break it to the sweet fella that I wasn't “madly in love with him.” And do it in a way that wouldn't piss off his short but terrifying brother.

“ _I don't like you like that.”_

_Papyrus bursts into tears._

_I get slammed into a wall by a blue light._

I barely even _knew_ Papyrus so I had no idea how he would take it. Would he be upset? Would he cry? _Wait, can skeletons cry?_ My wording had to be precise.

“ _Papyrus, I barely know you. So how can I love you? That would take a lot of time...”_

“ _Time we can spend dating, new girlfriend!”_

How about... _“I'm gay.”_

Then Alphys would think that and if I told her it was a lie...

_Undyne suplexes me. “How dare you make something like that up!”_

Does everyone's brains do this? Paint 800 different scenarios over and over? No matter what I thought up, my stupid head turned it into something bad. I looked at the clock again.

**6:55.**

“UGGGGGGGH!” I face-planted onto my couch. What was I supposed to do? Drive myself crazy until the guy contacted me? Which was beyond ridiculous. I mean, I only did that for guys I _liked!_

And then my phone buzzed, almost falling off my coffee table. I gasped and quickly read the text, seeing it was the guy in question at precisely 6:58.

 **Papyrus:** Hello, Niki! I hope this isn't too early. You do get up early, right? Being a doctor and all...

I sighed.

 **Niki:** No, I'm up. Couldn't sleep

Maybe I should break it to him now? Yeah, the best way to break up with someone is with a TEXT MESSAGE. I rolled my eyes. _Buzz._

 **Papyrus:** Why not?

_'Cause I dread your brother brutally murdering me._

**Niki:** idk just noises keeping me up

A few moments. Why was my place so quiet now? Of course, not a single peep when I'm AWAKE.

 **Papyrus:** Oh, I see. You should sleep with headphones on! My brother does that sometimes!

_Yeah, I really wanna talk about your brother right now._

**Niki:** thats dangerous for ur ears

I hit send before I realized what I just said. Did they even have ears? Now that I think of it, I didn't even see ear holes in their skulls...

No reply and I prayed to whoever was listening that I hadn't made him mad. I could hear that clock ticking again. Fifteen minutes went by and I clenched my teeth. Oh, crap. _Ohcrapohcrapohcrap._ What was happening? Was he telling his brother how insensitive I was? How I insulted both of them at the same time?

 _Buzz_. My heart stopped and I let out a breath.

 **Papyrus:** I tell him that all the time and he reminds me we have no ears! LOL! Don't tell him I find that funny...

I nervously giggled to myself.

 **Niki:** watcha up to?

I couldn't help asking; I was just too damn nosy. I mean, if he was _sooo_ enthusiastic about me being his girlfriend, why did it take him so long to reply back?

 _Wait, what the hell am I doing?!_ Here I was; painting scenarios again, like with any man who didn't text me back right away. This was getting stupid. I am _**NOT** _ his girlfriend!

 **Papyrus:** I'm making breakfast for myself and Sans!

Oh. Now I felt _really_ stupid.

 **Niki:** making what?

 **Papyrus:** Spaghetti of course!

I grimaced. Spaghetti for _breakfast?_ Ugh, note to self; don't eat at their house. Of course, once I finish this I wouldn't have to worry about that...

 **Papyrus:** I have to go wake up my lazybones of a brother to eat. I'll text you later to begin our date! I really enjoyed talking with you this morning. You're the best girlfriend! BYE!

My stomach sunk. Well, that tanked any plans I had to let him down gently. Here I was, chatting him up all friendly and interested and he thinks I still like him like that. _Great, just great._ I typed a simple -'k ttyl' and laid back on the couch.

This SUCKED.

He finally contacted me around noon and we were to meet at Alphys and Undyne's place. Maybe I could sneak in there and get my DVD... Although, I doubt Undyne would let me inside. I made the lonely drive over to their place, trying to distract myself with music. Everything on every station was a crappy love song.

“ _Our love hurts so much, can you feel it break?”_ I hated that one. It was so sad and the words right now made me cringe as I imagined making Papyrus cry.

I changed the station and the lyrics had gone from love to, _“yeah, yeah work it more, all over the floor, strip those pants and rub it hard...”_

I shut my radio off. _Those_ were certainly not the kind of thoughts I needed about _anyone_ right now, let alone a monster! Or a _skeleton_ monster!

Not that things like that weren't happening already. Humans have a knack for making anything sexual and monsters were no exception. It was all over social media now, people claiming to be the latest sexuality; **Undersexual** , short for Undergrounder which is what some people were now calling monsters simply because _monster_ seemed such a silly word for people to say.

Since there were so many monster types, it was easier to make a blanket sexuality rather than separate them into groups. Of course, no one was taking undersexuals seriously, most saying they were just doing it for attention. It was the new trend, after all.

It was obvious that a lot of humans that went after monsters like that, did it out of curiosity and lewd fascination. Since they technically weren't animals, it wasn't illegal. No one had made a law against it yet, though several middle eastern countries were speaking out against it and considering making it illegal.

It wasn't a crime but it wasn't accepted. 'Course, homosexuals and transsexuals still weren't completely accepted either. Hell, there was still racism for biracial couples. Seemed things like that would never change...

However, more people were fighting for human/monster couples. Conversations were happening much more quickly due to exposure on the internet. The LGBT were doing their best to help undersexuals get accepted, since undersexuals were also coming out as gay and trans and at one point a new hashtag on twitter went viral suggesting the LGBT become the LGBTU.

That hadn't happened yet. But there were all types of sexuality and honestly it was getting hard to keep up. I keep having to Google the new names I see on tumblr and Facebook.

I can remember one tumblr page I stumbled on. “ _I'm an asexual panromantic undersexual!”_ I chuckled despite myself.

I finally made it to the townhouse apartment and pulled into the parking lot. I sighed heavily and made sure my hair was right. I should at least look nice. I came up to the door and with a shaky hand, rang the bell.

After a few beats of my pounding heart, Undyne answered with a wide grin. “Heeeeellllooooo there...”

“Undyne!” Papyrus ran from the living room. “While I appreciate you answering the door, it is _my_ date and it's rude for me to not have answered!”

Her grin looked strained. “But it's _my_ home _and_ a double date! It'd me even _more_ rude for me _not_ to!”

The lanky skeleton seemed to ponder for a second, then laughed. “NYEH HEH HEH! You are right, Undyne! How silly of me.” He came up behind her. “Undyne, it will be hard for me to talk to her if you're standing between us.”

Now her grin looked like a grimace. “Oh. SURE.” She stepped aside only for the guy to grab my hand, causing my face to heat up again.

“Niki! I'm so glad you're here. I know dates usually happen at night but since you and Alphys have to work early tomorrow helping treat my fellow monsters and their injuries, I figured an afternoon date would be better!”

I blinked a few times looking at his gloved hand still holding mine. “Um...yeah...how thoughtful of you, Papyrus...”

He simply beamed at me. “Where should we go on our cool date?”

Suddenly I felt a familiar chill. Familiar in the sense that I had been introduced to it within the past few days. My head snapped behind me only to be greeted with two black eye sockets.

“Hey, kiddo.” The greeting was friendly, the face was not.

“Sans!” Papyrus gasped. “You're actually on time!”

The shorter of the two shrugged. “Just wanted to make sure you have a nice date, bro.” He winked and the lights were back in his eyes. I don't think I'll ever get used to that.

Papyrus seemed to tear up which answered my thoughts as to whether or not skeletons could cry...or at least _this_ one could.

“Brother! This is the first time in five years you've put real effort into something and it's for _me!_ I'm so touched...”

Five years? Since they came from the underground? Was Sans still down due to that teenager incident? People weren't even talking about that anymore. What did he mean, _real_ effort?

Again, Sans shrugged. “It's cool. And hey, I've put effort into stuff.”

Papyrus seemed to raise an eyebrow bone. “Like what? Sleeping?”

Sans leaned back on the heels of his feet, which I noticed were now adorned with sneakers. “What can I say? I'm so good at it, I could do it with my eyes closed.”

The others groaned and I didn't know why 'til I mulled the words around in my head. I chuckled as I figured it out. “Hey, that's a good one.”

His eyes flickered to me then back to his brother. Without missing a beat, he continued. “I'm even considering running my hotdog stand again, since now it's legal for monsters to be vendors.”

I felt so dejected. Why did he hate me so much? I mean, I got him laughin' at the restaurant! He liked my jokes! What was his fucking _problem?!_

I sighed heavily and apparently that gained the attention of my _beau._ “That can wait until later. We are being rude to my date!”

Sans nodded. “Yeah, wouldn't want to be rude to your _date_.” The way he said it. It was like he was saying _dog_ or something else derogatory.

Oh, that did it.

I grit my teeth, fists clenching at my side. “Hey, _pal_...” I ground out tightly, picking my words carefully as his head snapped to mine. “You got...a _bone_ to pick with me?”

Sans' eyes widened, the smile never faltering as Undyne slapped her forehead. “OH, MY GOD!”

After recovering from the momentary shock, he responded with. “Nope. Nothin' gets under my skin.”

I thought about it and relaxed my shoulders as his joke set in. “Oh...okay...good.”

“Oh, thank God, they stopped,” Undyne sighed. Alphys came down the stairs in a pretty red polka dot dress. “Oh! That's my favorite!” Undyne ran up and gave her a peck on the cheek causing the dino-girl to blush profusely.

“T-Thanks, hun...” She looked around. “So are we ready to go?”

Papyrus looked at me. “That depends. Where are we going on our awesome date, Niki? Ladies choice!”

Aaaaand everyone was looking at me again. _How_ did I get into this situation? I don't think I quite remember. I gulped and wrung my hands together...

Papyrus gasped. “Niki? Do you have doubts? Doubts about the great Papyrus being an awesome date? I can assure you-!”

“Howaboutawalkinthepark?!” I blurted quickly before he could continue.

He gasped now delightedly. “Oh, that sounds wonderful! A walk in the park it is!” He grabbed my hand again and pulled me outside. “We shall walk all the way there!”

“M-My car!” I yelped as I was pulled.

“Oh, don't worry! It's as safe with us as your DVD is!” Undyne teased behind me and I glared at the sidewalk.

Sans shuffled behind the girls. “Hey, Paps...ya don't need to hold her hand the _entire_ way there, do ya? Might be smothering her a bit...”

“Oh! You're right, brother! I must give space when required!” The taller skeleton quickly let go of my hand, which was practically throbbing now. “I apologize, Niki!”

“N-No need to, sweetie. It's fine.”

His eyes lit up, if possible. “Sweetie?! We already have pet names!”

I felt two pairs of eyes boring into my back and sighed. “I call a lot of people sweetie...it's a thing I do.”

Papyrus paused. “Oh, all right.”

He didn't sound sad or anything but I still worried I had hurt his feelings or something. We finally got to the park and it was a small simple one with a swing set and slide for kids, picnic table for adults and some benches. When I said _park_ I thought one with a walkway or something...not an actual kiddie park, but this would be okay. We could walk around it or sit at the picnic table...and then I could totally break his heart...

“Okay...so...what are we doing here?” Undyne asked in a clipped tone. “I mean I was hoping a nice place to eat lunch or something that wasn't full of DORK!”

I grimaced as she shouted her last word, but Papyrus seemed totally unfazed, “Of course, Undyne! First a walk in the park then we eat lunch!” he answered her gleefully. “Come on!” He reached for my hand again but just as he did, I saw some blue rabbit looking guy standing off in the distance.

“Who's that?” I made sure to point with the hand he was going for.

Alphys gasped. “Oh, the Nice Cream Vendor! H-He's back! Let's go get some nice cream!”

“ _Nice_ cream?” I asked slowly.

“Yes, you'll love it, Niki! It won't spoil our lunch!” Papyrus finally managed to grab my hand again and pulled me to the cart. I begrudgingly followed. Surely, Sans could see how much I _didn't_ want to do this, right? I wasn't some brother stealing hussy or whatever he seemed to think of me.

When we got to the vendor I heard someone call out all their names. I turned to see a young child running up to us, a goat looking woman behind them.

I recognized them both. It was Frisk and her mother. How was this happening? How was I suddenly surrounded by all the people I saw at that damn trial?!

I held in a groan as all greeted the kid and woman. “Toriel! Frisk! We've missed you guys!” Undyne had Frisk in a headlock giving her noogies.

So Toriel was the goat lady. _What a pretty name..._

“We have missed you too,” Toriel said with an aged but soft voice. Her eyes glanced at Sans and I swear I saw him bristle. “Hello, Sans.”

He shuffled his feet a little. “Hey, Tori. How's things?”

She looked down at her hands. “Things...have been good.”

“Well...good. Hey, kid,” he turned his attention to Frisk. “You come here to get some nice cream?”

She nodded. “Yeah!” And her eyes fell on me. “Uh, who are _you?_ ”

“Frisk...do not be rude,” her mother gently chided.

“Ah, yes!” Papyrus put his hands on my shoulders. “Allow me to introduce you! This is Niki, my cool girlfriend and we are on a date!”

Toriel looked confused and Frisk's face was how I felt; _What the fuck._

The child shook her head and giggled. “Ummm, I thought you liked Mettaton?”

Papyrus stilled at the child's question and I swear I saw sweat build on his skull. “Metta...no! Niki is my girlfriend now! I WANT NICE CREAM!” And he turned to the vendor and ordered some.

“Yeah, right, nerd!” Undyne shook her head, laughing boisterously while everyone else chuckled and I couldn't help feel I was missing out on a joke of some kind. I watched as they all ordered what looked like Popsicle sticks and started unwrapping them.

“Niki, don't you want some?” Alphys offered.

I shrugged. “Sure.” I stepped up to the really adorable vendor. “What flavors do you have?”

He smiled. “Vanilla, chocolate, blueberry, strawberry...” he trailed off. “Oh, and human soul substitute...”

I choked on my own spit. “What!”

Undyne started cackling again.

“Dude, don't broadcast that in a park full of humans,” Sans chortled while me, Alphys and Papyrus looked horrified.

“What is that? Human _soul_ substitute?” I asked, feeling a bit offended.

“Oh, man! I'm sorry! It's not really human soul it just tastes like it...kind of...not really. I dunno what human soul tastes like!” He held his head and cried. “All I know is a bought a _ton_ of the stuff when we were trapped underground and I haven't been able to sell it since we were freed! I've run out of gold and I need to make money and monster vendors just became legal a few months ago so I'm trying to pass it off as a different flavor. Maybe if my old underground customers come see me they may want it...I have to make some money and all the other flavors cost money I don't have to make them and sell them!” He cried harder.

“Wait, are _all_ these flavors you have here that stuff in disguise?” I asked, feeling sick.

He shook his head, tears flying off his eyes. “No! I spent the last of my gold on “normal” flavors...but I'm gonna run out soon and no one is buying from me anyway...”

I knew this would happen. I knew the undergrounders would start running out of gold. Here was the proof. This poor guy was trying to make back his money, and had resorted to selling something awful to do it.

“Well, we just did...” Frisk started. “Hey, I have an idea. Give me one fake human soul flavor.” The other monsters gasped, me along with them.

“Frisk!” Toriel yelped, a hand to her chest.

“I'm not gonna eat it!” the child whined. “I just wanna help him out. Besides no one else is gonna buy that stuff and he's gonna run out of the others flavors if - _when_ he gets more customers.” She turned to the goat woman. “Mom...can we come by here every day to get one fake soul nice cream until his stock is all gone? That way no one has to buy it and he'll make money?”

Toriel smiled as only a mother could. “Yes, I suppose we can. What a lovely idea, my child.”

The vendor was now crying happy tears, wiping them away hastily as he took out another stick, which looked like the color periwinkle.

Frisk beamed and paid for it going, “Ecch, I'll just go throw this one away...” and skipped to the nearest trashcan.

Sans had been eying the kid the whole time, and it almost looked like the way he had been looking at me. _Like he was looking for..._

“Sans?” Toriel's voice jumped both me and him. “Is something wrong?”

He shrugged. “Nah. Nothin's wrong. Been a while since I've seen 'er.”

“Yes, well...you do not visit as often.” A pause. “Frisk asks about you all the time. Frisk...misses you...”

He looked down at his shoes, appearing nervous. “Y-Yeah...I miss...Frisk too...”

Wait a minute. Was it just me, or was there an ex couple vibe going on here? “Are you two getting back together yet?” was the question from a young voice behind the two, startling both of them.

“Frisk! That was fast...” Toriel chuckled.

Well, I hit _that_ nail on the head. Why shorty was so grumpy was starting to make more sense.

“Yeah, what; didja learn to teleport like your dunkle Sans?” he asked ruffling the girl's hair again.

“Stop!” she laughed, pushing him away. “No!”

“Dunkle?” I couldn't help but ask.

Frisk turned to me with a smile. “Yeah, I couldn't decide if Sans was my dad or uncle so I decided he was both; my dunkle!”

 _Dad?_ Sans was a father figure to this little girl? Oh, yeah. The grumpiness was _really_ making sense now.

Sans had what looked like a blue... _something_ on his cheeks. Like a flush...wait...Good Lord, was that a _blush_?!

“Ehh, kid.” One last ruffle. “I see you got your chocolate nice cream all over your face.” He pointed at the offending stain.

“Oh, dear,” Toriel laughed softly. “Let's go to the water fountain and clean it up...” she grabbed her daughter's hand.

“Don'tcha mean we'll _goat_ to the water fountain?” Frisk asked with a wide smile but it fell when all her mother did was weakly chuckle. “C'mon, mom...you used to make that one all the time...”

Her fur bristled. “Yes, well...” Her eyes darted to the small skeleton then at the grass. “Let us go.”

I heard Sans sigh and before I could say anything Papyrus came bounding up to me. “Niki! I have finished my treat and recycled all garbage. I even picked up some trash others forgot to throw away. It's a good thing we decided to come here so I could help them out!”

I smiled. “That's wonderful, Papyrus...”

“What now?” Undyne asked with an irritated sigh. “Nice cream is...nice I guess but I'd like a _meal!_ ”

I nodded. “I know a great... _Italian_ restaurant down the street from here,” I suggested with a wink seeing Papyrus jump with glee.

“Oh, wowie! This is the best day ever!” He gasped. “Wait! That child has thrown their fast food drink cup on the ground. I'll be right back!”

“Isn't my brother cool?” Sans asked and I was shocked he was asking _me_.

I blinked a few times. “Yes, he is.”

He paused, it seemed a little unsure as he watched his brother pick up the trash and wave at the child who was running from him in terror. “Do...you actually _like_ him?”

“Hard not to,” I answered honestly. “But not like that.”

An exhale of breath. “Of course not...so why haven't you told him yet?”

I put my hands on my hips, swinging them off to the side. “And _when_ exactly do you want me to break your brother's heart? On his _best day ever?_ ”

Sans narrowed his eyes at me, though he still had that damn smile on his face. Was his mouth capable of any other movement? It seemed like it was but most of the time I'd seen him, he had a perma-grin. “My brother is more resilient than you think. Just tell him.”

“Oh, okay. I'll just waltz up to him and tell him. When you specifically told me to do it in a way that wouldn’t hurt him! Now you just want me to get it over with quickly. Make up your mind, man!”

“ **Look.** ” I stepped back when those eye-lights disappeared again. “He's getting too attached to you already. Find a way to tell him the truth.”

“Oh, you mean the truth that his brother hates me?” Did those sockets just get _darker?_ I swallowed.

“Kiddo...if I hated ya...you wouldn't even **be here**.” He blinked and the lights were back. “'Kay? We clear?”

I glared as best I could. “Crystal.” This asshole just basically told me he would have _killed_ me if he hated me. “So if you don't hate me, then what is it?”

He looked back to the taller skeleton. “Let's just say...I'm a protective older brother and leave it at that.”

Older brother, huh? I pretty much guessed that. He totally had that vibe to him. “Sure.” I sighed heavily as Papyrus came running up. “We'll eat and then I'll take him to the side and tell him, okay?”

Sans turned away from me with another shrug. “Whatever you say, Nicoletta.”

Oh, we're back to THAT again. “ _Niki_ ,” I spat out.

He tilted his head back at me, a more joking grin in place. “I know your name, kiddo.”

* * *

 

When we got to the restaurant, I noticed the four monsters I was with were the only undergrounders in the place. I gulped and tried to hold my head high as I asked the hostess, “Seating for five.”

Her eyes darted to the whole group then back to me with a disapproving noise. She guided us to a booth WAY off in the corner, away from anyone else. I felt so embarrassed. Not for myself, but for my race. To their credit, none of them seemed to be angry about her behavior or the looks they were getting.

I felt like shouting, “It's been five years! GET OVER IT!” but I just sighed and slunk in my booth instead.

Surprisingly we were seated almost like we had been at that Grillby's place, except with Sans and Papyrus in switched positions. I was glad Sans wasn't next to me this time but that also meant his _eyes_ were on me now. Papyrus _was_ next to me and seemed almost nervous. Poor guy, it was so sweet.

A waiter came up to us, a skinny boy with obvious guyliner on his eyes and a tattoo that was barely visible under his collar. His slicked back black hair glistened in the light. He _so_ did not fit this restaurant and I smiled. “Hey, know what you want to drink?” He seemed totally unfazed by the four creatures sitting at the table and that made me smile more.

We all just ordered water, though Alphys wanted lemon in hers. We sat in uncomfortable silence after that. The place was nice, but more like an Olive Garden than a real authentic Italian restaurant. Most of the things on the menu could be pronounced by English speaking people so it wasn't that fancy.

“So Al tells me you're doing great as a resident,” Undyne leaned on her elbows on the table. Her smile reflected the true nature of her questioning.

“Oh?” I smiled at Alphys. “Thanks.”

She blushed. “W-Well you are. You've learned so quickly...”

Then Undyne dropped the bomb. “Wanna tell us why you're treating _monsters_ instead of your own kind?”

I swallowed. Was it really so hard to believe? “Well...” I slowly started, “...someone has to. If no one starts the changes, they'll never come. I know someday there will be more humans willing to treat monsters. At least I hope so...” I nervously took a drink of water. “So my goal is to become a general practitioner; a family doctor. I'm not sure yet. I may wanna switch to treating kids.”

Alphys lit up. “Oh, really?”

I nodded. “Yeah. That sweet little one Jethris kinda swayed me on that, heh.” I shrugged. “But I'm not sure yet. I do know being a family doctor has always been my dream.”

The table went silent as we all looked at our menus. I had eaten here once before so I knew the fettuccine alfredo was pretty good. Papyrus, at no surprise to anyone, ordered spaghetti. Alphys ordered eggplant parmesan and Undyne had the chicken parm.

Sans sighed and sat back in the booth. “Wish they had burgers...”

Undyne laughed at him. “You dork! Like they have burgers here!”

“Actually we do. We have an “Italian” burger,” the waiter explained, making quotations with his fingers. He flipped Sans' menu to the right page. “See? It's a beef patty with Italian spices and stuff, marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese and tomatoes, with a basil leaf.”

“Whoa,” was the smaller skeleton's reply. “Come with fries or somethin'?”

The boy nodded. “Yup. Sprinkled with parmesan cheese.”

Sans chuckled as he slapped the menu shut. “Sold.”

The waiter nodded as he wrote down the last of the order and walked away. Papyrus sighed. “Honestly, brother! Are you so lazy that you can't look at the menu yourself!”

Sans shrugged. “I didn't see it.”

Undyne snickered. “Yeah, 'cause that burger is on the kids menu.”

“It is not,” I snapped before I could stop myself. It wasn't on the kids menu. The kids menu had mac and cheese, chicken fingers and a regular burger. Undyne must have just assumed when she saw a burger listed there. Hate when people assume things...also hate when people stare at me which everyone was totally now doing thanks to my outburst. Three had shock stares and Undyne had a furious rage stare.

“Yeah, it is. I SAW IT,” she seethed at me, fists clenching.

I gulped. “Nooo...t-that's a regular burger on the kids menu...the Italian one is a regular meal...”

I felt something shift at the table, something rise...and it was glowing in Undyne's eye. “Ladies...don't rattle your bones over me. I could care less where the burger come from, as long as it tastes good.” Sans chimed in, still smiling but his eyes were darting between me and the fish woman.

“I ain't fightin' over YOU, you moron! Like I would ever! _She_ just called me a liar!” She pointed a clawed hand at me as she finished.

I huffed/gasped. “I did not!”

“OH, MY GOD! See, she did it again!” She growled. “Like she has the right to accuse _me_ when she's hiding stuff!”

The table went to ice when she said that, and there went Sans' eyes going dark again. Did he know what she meant? That she was talking about me knowing them from the trial? Or did he think she was gonna out that I wasn't _madly in love_ with Papyrus? Either way, he wasn't happy and I gulped, looking down at my hands.

“What do you mean, Undyne?” Papyrus asked softly, well soft for him anyway and Alphys tittered.

“I-I'm sure Niki wasn’t saying you l-lied, hun...she was just correcting y-you...”

Undyne crossed her arms with a rude scoff. “Which is just as bad.”

“So...” my eyes snapped up at his low voice, “...are you hiding anything, kiddo?”

I sighed. I should just out everything all at once and be done with it. Yeah, I may lose my friend and my job but this was getting to be too much. I didn't ask for this! “Look,” I started sharply. “I really wanted this to work out but I can see that it won't. I'm really sorry, Alphys...but I see your friends don't like me...”

Papyrus gasped. “ _I_ like you! Which of my friends do you think don't like you?!”

“Whoa, whoa, punk! I never said I didn't _like_ you! Just that you're hidin' stuff!” Undyne countered, looking truly shocked. “If I didn’t like you, I wouldn't even _be here_.”

Those words sounded awfully like Sans' and it seemed monsters had the same way of thinking. So they didn't hate me or didn't _not_ like me...

Papyrus still was upset. “Niki, who do you think doesn't like you?” Now I felt simply AWFUL. And I knew Sans was boring his sockets into my _soul_ again and I just couldn't get away...

I had social anxiety in times like this and it was then I noticed my breathing had gotten harder.

“Hey, kiddo...I second what Undyne said. Don't worry so much,” Sans finally said and I looked up seeing his eyes back again, the grin less menacing.

I took a big swig of water and sighed heavily. “I guess I was wrong, Papyrus...I'm sorry...” I said, deflated and numb.

“Don't apologize, Niki! You just thought wrong! I, the great Papyrus, know that all my friends are wonderful and would never do anything to make you feel unwelcome!”

Undyne and Sans looked immediately guilty, though with Sans it was a slump in the booth, no expression change, and Undyne just rubbed the back of her neck. “Y-Yeah, no we wouldn't, pal,” she said more soft.

Seemed both of them had a weakness, and it was the guy next to me. Neither would do anything to hurt him and I guessed that's why they were so harsh with me. I had buddied up to the innocent lamb and they were the sheep dogs protecting him.

Although Sans seemed uneasy with me before this whole mess with Papyrus...and Undyne seemed to like me until she thought I knew about the trial... So I didn't know what to think anymore. Undyne had a reason maybe, Sans...didn't. This just gave him an excuse.

“I...need to use the bathroom,” I finally said after another tense couple of minutes, to which my _date_ seemed oblivious to as he rambled on and on about different kinds of spaghetti. He gallantly got up, gesturing like a prince to allow me to scoot out and I couldn't help but giggle at the display. “Aw, thanks...” I shot a brief look at Alphys as if to say “help” then went to the restroom as quickly as possible.

Once I was in there, I splashed some water on my face and started some good old fashioned pacing. “What am I gonna do now?”

The door slammed open, hitting the wall, causing me to jump and scream. “Okay, what's up?!” Undyne shouted and I was glad I was the only person in here. “What is the problem?”

I pulled at my hair. “Sans wants me to 'break up' with Papyrus and not break his heart or he's gonna kill me!” I finally broke down and admitted.

Undyne started cackling at my misery. “Oh, PLEASE! That dwarf wouldn't kill ya! That would _truly_ break Papyrus' heart!” She stopped laughing. “Sans would _never_ hurt his brother.”

“But he wants me to...” I replied, hanging my head. That's when I noticed Alphys was in there too and both girls were giggling at me. “This isn't funny!”

“Um, yeah, it kinda is 'cause I can bet that Papyrus isn't really all that in to you,” Undyne spat with a huge grin.

Alphys fumbled with her hands. “We talked about it last night and, um, w-we're both pretty sure that he's trying to make s-someone jealous...”

I blinked a few times. “Really? For real?” I panted. “And I've been having a fucking stroke over _nothing?!_ ”

Undyne slapped her knee. “Yup! Hilarious, ain't it?!”

I groaned as both girls kept laughing. Ya know, Alphys could be really evil when she wanted to be. “Okay, who is he trying to make jealous? That girl Frisk mentioned?”

Undyne raised an eyebrow. “Mettaton is a _guy_ , and yeah, him.”

I blushed a little in embarrassment and nodded. I could have sword that robot was a girl...he looked like one, anyway.  “Oh. Okay. So...what's up? Mettaton is that famous robot in Japan, right?”

Alphys nodded. “Yes. He left and kind of h-hurt Papyrus...I think that's why Sans and Undyne are so...p-protective of him and the prospect of him having a relationship...”

Undyne snorted.

I sighed heavily, slumping my shoulders. “Okay, so I'll tell him that I know what's going on.”

“T-That may hurt him too! Two rejections in a row!”

“Yeah, duh. Whether he likes you or not, rejection isn't fun.”

I secured my purse on my shoulder. “It isn't rejection. I know what to do.” I walked past them briskly and marched up to our table. “Papyrus, can we talk...alone for a minute?”

Sans shifted and went stiff as his brother got up from the booth. “Of course!”

“Let's sit over here for a few...” I gestured to a table away from the booth, ignoring how Sans was just glowering at me...with a fucking creepy ass smile. Egh.

As soon as we were sitting, Papyrus held his head and moaned. “Oh, I must tell you the truth, Niki!” Well. This may go easier than I thought. “I don't feel the same way about you as you do me...” My moth opened to speak and he stopped me, dramatically placing a finger over it. “I know you must be devastated to lose such an amazing catch as the great Papyrus, but I cannot feel the same as you! I tried, but I couldn't...I'm very sorry, Niki.”

I chuckled. “Papyrus...I think you just wanted to maybe forget someone you really _do_ feel that way about?” He turned orange in his cheeks again. “Perhaps a famous robot monster named Mettaton?”

Even deeper shade. “Well...he doesn't like me...”

I patted his hand. “How do you know? Did he say that?”

He shook his head. “Well, no. But he left for Japan and hasn't been back for two years! And I thought we were such good friends!”

“Tell ya what...do you have any social media?”

He nodded then gasped. “Excellent idea, human! We will take selfies of us together and he will think we are together and be green with envy!”

“Well-” Before I could protest, he took out his phone and snapped a pic of himself grabbing me and holding me squashed up against him. “Hey!”

He quickly pressed some buttons and bounced in his seat with glee. “Wowie! Now he will think I have moved on with my new girlfriend! This is a great plan! Thank you so much, Niki!”

I stuttered. At least he didn't _really_ think I was his girlfriend. And I could tell his over protective brother all this. I was relieved all in all and smiled. “I guess that's fine. So we're cool? And you know I'm not really your girlfriend?”

He nodded frantically. “Yes, yes, yes! Thank you!” He jumped up from the seat, pulled me into another squashing embrace and ran back to our booth.

I rubbed my shoulder. “Ow.” I yelped as another pain shot through me as Undyne slapped the same shoulder.

“Great job! Seems you're cool after all!” She laughed and walked over to our table just as the food was arriving.

Alphys gave me a sympathetic look. “We saw the whole thing and, well...you _did_ do good.”

I walked back to the booth with her, seeing Papyrus was now sitting in the corner next to his brother. Sans had apparently moved to let him in. Alphys and Undyne took the other side so now my two choices were sit next to Undyne or sit next to Sans.

Undyne was tearing apart her chicken, crumbs flying everywhere. “Sans, don't be rude! Give our new friend space!” Papyrus spoke with a full mouth, making Sans scoot over further.

“Sure,” was his only response.

I sighed, not wanting chicken parm all over me and sat next to Sans. Not like I hadn't before, and now I felt so much better. Even so, he wasn't being any more welcoming to me. “So we fixed it...” I softly said as the other three had their own conversation.

“Yes, I heard. Way to go.”

His tone was clipped and seemed even _more_ angry, if that was possible. “What's wrong?”

He picked up a cheesy fry. “Oh, nothing. You just gave him hope that he may wrangle in that self centered jerk that hurt him two years ago. No biggie.”

I gasped. “What?”

He shrugged, appearing nonchalant. “Mettaton is even _worse_.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Worse than what? _Me?_ ”

He said nothing and my blood boiled. Oh, that was it. That was fucking it. This little shit was gonna get it. _Bad time?_ I'll give _you_ a _**bad time**_ , asshole! I sat and fumed the whole lunch, barely touching my food.

Oh, he was gonna get it.

_**OH.** _

~TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY CRAP YOU GUYS! I am speechless on how well received this has been! Thank you soooo much! 
> 
> So this was kinda more filler and all that junk but at least we know Papyrus isn't getting hurt...though another skelly may be soon lololol Again, thank you for the kind responses!
> 
> BTW, I would like to come out as an undersexual...thank you for your support during this confusing transition...


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